'A total of 3,370 incidents of abuse and violence is 3,370 too many'

HUNDREDS of ambulance workers have been attacked or abused in the past 12 months while they have been doing their jobs.

- Rob Andrews

Latest West Midlands Ambulance Service figures show 462 incidents have been recorded in Staffordshire in the past 12 months.

That is out of a total of 3,370 incidents across the West Midlands in the past 12 months - and 22,536 cases nationally.

Now the ambulance service is launching a social media campaign to highlight the abuse and violence.

West Midlands Ambulance Service chief executive Anthony Marsh, right, said: "For many staff, this sort of abuse can have a profound impact on their lives with some staff never recovering and actually leaving the service altogether. While it is a minority of people who commit these offences, we need the public to support us to make such abuse something that is unacceptable."