PARAMEDIC Andy Wilson often has to hide bruises and scratches from his family at the end of his nightshift.

Violence against emergency crews in the city centre has got so bad that a week does not go by without staff being kicked or punched. Verbal abuse happens daily.

The biggest, and increasing, danger they face is being threatened with knives as they try to help people involved in fights. And it's not just the victims - the relatives are often aggressive and abusive.

Andy, who has been in Greater Manchester Ambulance Service for nine years, says he was once chased out of a patient's house when a member of his family threw bricks at him.

He said: "Last year I went to help a student lying on a bed and he kicked me with steel-capped boots.

"Some staff leave the ambulance service because they can't cope with the aggression and the violence.

"We were called out to a house party recently where someone had spiked cakes with drugs. There was only one of us there when a full-blown fight started - that's when you have to question whether your own personal safety is at risk."

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