BOLTON'S emergency casualty unit was stretched to the limit over the weekend treating hundreds of patients who 'fell' victim to the icy conditions. There was barely standing room as people with broken limbs crammed into Bolton Royal Infirmary's casualty department. On Saturday alone, staff dealt with 200 patients during a 24 hour spell. Seventy of them arrived in a peak four-hour period between 11am and 3pm.

A Bolton ambulanceman said: "I don't know about being able to find a seat, people were lucky to find space to stand in.

"The place was packed solid."

Mr John Adams, consultant in emergency medication, who heads the unit, said: "The ice and snow provoked a flurry of related injuries.

"These were largely in older people who had been out walking and had slipped and fallen on the ice. The majority suffered arm, wrist and shoulder injuries.

"There were also quite a lot of sledging injuries in the younger age group.

"Other related injuries included several people who had been involved in relatively minor shunts in their cars as a result of losing control on the ice. "They mainly suffered neck strains.

"Our normal figures during January are 170 patients a day.

"The X-Ray department in particular was much busier than normal.

"Staff worked exceptionally well. They worked cheerfully in very demanding circumstances and got the job done. "You cannot stop children going out in this weather having fun, but it is worth noting that this situation usually occurs with the first flurries of snow. People tend to be caught out.

"Because we have had a relatively mild winter up until this weekend, I think that is what happened."

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