Demand on the region’s ambulance service was down by almost a third over the Easter bank holiday weekend compared to last year, though it still responded to thousands of incidents.

This year, staff and volunteers at the East of England Ambulance Service received almost 8,000 calls, which was markedly less than in 2017, when call handlers received 11,700 calls over the bank holiday weekend.

Easter Saturday was the busiest day for call handlers, with about 2,100 calls received, a little less than last year’s total of 3,000.

The trust received 1,957 calls on Good Friday, compared to the 2,826 calls received on the same day in 2017.

Easter Monday also saw fewer calls than 2017, with call handlers receiving 1,780 calls, down from 2,801 the previous year.

Staff and volunteers have been praised by ambulance bosses for all their hard work over the Easter weekend.

Robert Morton, chief executive of the ambulance service, said: “My thanks to all of my colleagues and our volunteers for their continual hard work during another busy bank holiday weekend.

“We still continue to remind the public to consider alternate pathways such as 111, walk in centres, GPs and pharmacists if the call is not a genuine medical emergency.”