Ambulance crews in the Bristol area have been under pressure this winter, dealing with 13 per cent more calls than last year.

The cold weather and flu outbreak put added strain on Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) throughout December and up to January 11, new figures show.

The chief executive of the trust which runs the service said he had known few busier times in his career of more than 20 years.

Ambulance staff responded to 29,659 emergency call outs across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and the former Avon area over the six weeks, compared with 26,139 incidents for the same time a year earlier.

Of those, 10,338 were life-threatening or category A incidents. The previous year crews dealt with 1,000 fewer life-threatening emergencies.

In the last week, GWAS answered 4,558 emergency calls, still 11 per cent more than the corresponding week a year ago, despite milder weather.

Since January 1, ambulance crews in the former Avon area have responded to 5,010 calls, with 1,931 of those in the last week.

Admissions to hospital emergency departments in the greater Bristol area have risen too but hospital bosses say not by an alarming amount.

Last month, North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs the Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, saw 6,350 people at A&E in 2008 compared with 6,184 a year before.

In the first two weeks of December 2007, Bristol Royal Infirmary A&E saw 797 patients but in 2008 it rose to 958. University Hospitals Bristol NHSFoundationTrust spokesman, Adrian Ruck, said: "Although the number of emergency admissions to A&E has increased, the situation is much as expected."

Weston General also saw more A&E patients

The NHS is trying to discourage people from calling 999 when they could wait and see their GP or pharmacist.

Mr Marsh said: "I would like to thank people for heeding that message and helping our staff ensure we could focus our efforts on those patients that needed an emergency ambulance response.

"Staff are working extremely hard to provide that high level of service – that is staff answering 999 calls and dispatching ambulances as well as our operational crews going to patients.

"I would like to thank them for their dedication in continuing to provide excellent patient care."

He said the service talked to hospital staff regularly so they knew when different parts of the NHS were under pressure from too many patients.

Chris Hewett, Bristol Paramedic and Unison representative, said: "An ambulance crew might attend an average of 10 999 call-outs in a typical shift.

"Several of these could be to people who have simply run out of their prescription medication, have the symptoms of cold or flu or have been drinking alcohol.

"Ambulance crews will deal with these incidents with professional compassion, but it should be clear to everyone that the 999 service is for serious emergencies only."

He said every inappropriate 999 call put lives at risk.

NHS Bristol has run a series of adverts in the Post and on buses in the city explaining how to reach a GP out of hours or call NHS Direct when it is not an emergency.