The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has revealed July was the service's busiest month in four years after it was called to a number of incidents across Suffolk.

The charity, which also serves Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, was dispatched 266 times last month - 38 times more than in June.

In July, the EAAA was called to a cardiac arrest in Ipswich, a fall in Stowmarket and a road collision in Southwold, among other incidents.

Matthew Jones, chief executive of EAAA, was not surprised by the news as people have flocked to the East Anglian coast for staycations amid Covid travel rules.

He said: "It’s not surprising that our teams have been particularly busy in July with the number of people staying in the UK this summer, and choosing to holiday in this part of the world, much higher than normal.

"We’re only a few weeks into August and already it’s feeling like a very busy August, too.

"On June 30 we also started flying throughout the night for the first time, making our operation 24/7 by air and by road.

"This is certainly adding to the number of missions we can now attend overnight and is part of the reason for the increase we’re seeing here.

"We need to raise £15million a year to deliver and develop our life-saving service and 266 taskings in July provides a stark reminder of why we do what we do - to be there for those people in the most life-changing or life-threatening circumstances.

"It’s only thanks to the generosity of people throughout the region that we’re able to take enhanced critical care to the scene of accidents and emergencies to help save lives and we’re incredibly thankful for every donation we receive."