THE man in charge of planning the town's emergency ambulance cover admits Millennium celebrations could spark delays.

Allan Withers, 35, has just been appointed as the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service NHS Trust's emergency planning manager.

But yesterday, as Mr Withers continued to prepare a detailed 999 cover plan for Bolton's casualties, he admitted the milestone event could lead to delays.

Unknown

He said: "At least with the Millennium we know when it's going to happen. That's quite unusual for emergency planning because usually we're planning for the unknown.

"I would think there will be some delays but what we have to do is to put processes in place to ensure we target the right areas with the right amount of vehicles."

His official appointment, confirmed two weeks ago, comes after a 12 month secondment as the emergency planning officer.

He is now in detailed discussions with other emergency service and council bosses to ensure the town's casualties receive prompt treatment on New Year's Eve.

He confirmed there are plans to block ambulance staff holidays for three weeks around the Christmas period as they face a huge workload.

The under-pressure service called on the help of volunteers from Bolton Mountain Rescue Team last New Year's Eve as 999 calls flooded the ambulance control room.

And Mr Withers believes the service will be more pressurised than ever for this year's celebrations.

He said: "It is essential that we are well prepared to deal with any incident arising, regardless of size.

"The Millennium is an issue for all organisations and GMAS is working hard with other relevant agencies to look at all areas of the service and the implications of the year 2000."

Mr Withers, from Ramsbottom, took on his new role after joining GMAS in 1992 and qualifying as a paramedic at the Ladybridge Hall training centre in Bolton.

He will also be responsible for planning high risk events such as pop concerts, the Cricket World Cup to be held in July and Manchester's 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.