Hundreds of emergency workers have been attacked in Greater Manchester including Bolton, new figures show.

The figures going back to 2020 are assaults on non-police emergency workers.

In 2020 police forces began to record a new category of crime - assaults without injury on emergency workers.

Latest Home Office crime figures show 367 assaults against emergency workers have been recorded by Greater Manchester Police between March 2020 and the end of 2022.

Of these assaults, 195 took place in 2022, and 68 the year before, with the remainder taking place from early 2020 onwards.

The Bolton News has reported on a number of occassions when emergency service workers, especially firefighters, have been attacked.

This time last year firefighters were pelted with rocks and full beer cans as they tackled two suspected deliberately started fires,

Crews from Farnworth were called to the Dove Bank Estate in Little Lever involving two rubbish fires in separate incidents.

On both occasions they were verbally abused by local youths and items, including rocks, eggs and full beer cans were thrown at them.

Fortunately none of the firefighters attending the incident were injured.

The offence applies to attacks on 'blue light' workers, paramedics and fire fighters, along with many others, including prison officers, NHS workers, and St John’s Ambulance volunteers - but does not include police officers, who are covered by a different crime code.

Cllr Andy Morgan, Co-chair of the Bolton Locality Board, which oversees the Bolton NHS, said: “Our blue light colleagues should not be subject to or fear being subject to abuse of any kind, whether that be physical or verbal, when carrying out their duties. 

“Anyone found guilty of such an offence should feel the full force of the courts and be sentenced accordingly.

“Public Service workers are there for us all in our hour of need and should be respected appropriately.”

The 2018 Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill came into law, imposing a maximum prison sentence of one year for common assault on an emergency worker – a sentence that was doubled in 2022.

Over the past few years 12 per cent of crimes that had outcomes recorded in Greater Manchester resulted in a charge.

Across England and Wales, 3,347 assaults on emergency workers were recorded in 2022, a slight rise on 3,342 the year before.

And since the crime was introduced, 34 per cent of recorded incidents have resulted in the offender being charged or summonsed.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "People become firefighters to serve their communities and help to keep people safe. It’s appalling that firefighters should face violent attacks while doing their job.

“This is not a new problem, and in the past work has been done to address it.

"Unfortunately, sweeping cuts to the Fire and Rescue Service since 2010 have meant the end of many youth and community engagement programmes which aimed to educate and include local communities in the work that firefighters do."

Ambulance workers are also frequent victims of assault – the 2022 NHS Staff Survey found 45 per cent of paramedics had experienced violence from patients or the general public.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.