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An air ambulance charity says it has just experienced its busiest year on record.

Magpas Air Ambulance responded to 1,903 emergencies across 13 counties in and around the east of England, a 42% increase on the year before.

The service offers pre-hospital care to the most critically ill or injured patients.

The charity said the rise in call-outs showed there was "more demand for our service than ever before".

Life-threatening emergencies, such as cardiac arrests, remained the top reason for deployment, followed by road traffic collisions, with both accounting for 66% of the services call outs, the charity said.

The majority of patients were male and the air ambulance attended an average of two critically ill or injured children a week in 2023.

Natalie Church, director of operations, said: "Our doctors and paramedics have had an extremely busy year.

"With activations increasing by more than 40%, they have done everything possible to continue delivering lifesaving pre-hospital care to patients, wherever they are.

"It's important to remember that behind the data, every statistic and figure is a person whose life is on the line, and it's the incredible Magpas Air Ambulance medical team who make crucial differences for those patients every day."

The charity's director of fundraising and marketing Lucy Chapman said: "After working through our busiest year on record, it's clear from these figures that there is more demand for our service than ever before."

The charity moved into a new base in Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire in 2023.

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