Pedestrian dies and ambulance service hits calls record

Published on 01/01/2011 16:14

A pedestrian has died after he was hit by a car in the centre of Edinburgh, just hours after the Hogmanay street party.

The 41-year-old man was crossing Union Place near the Playhouse Theatre at around 4.20am when he was struck by a black Toyota which was travelling northwards.

The man was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he died a short time later.

Police said the driver has been interviewed and is assisting them with the inquiry. Anyone who was in the area and who may have witnessed the incident is asked to contact Lothian and Borders Police.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Ambulance Service said it had its busiest Hogmanay ever, dealing with more than 3,000 calls.

The service said it dealt with 3141 calls between midnight and 7am on Saturday - a 47% increase on last year's figure of 2,141.

Pauline Howie, chief executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said: "All of our staff who were on duty over Hogmanay did a fantastic job to cope with what were at times intense periods of demand, especially in the early hours of the morning.

"They deserve credit for doing an outstanding job.

"Hogmanay is always the busiest night of the year, but this year staff had to deal with record numbers across the country.

"Our contingency planning ensured that there were additional resources in place to deal with the demand and respond to patients in need."

Across the three main despatch centres, the calls break down as follows: Edinburgh dealt with 1,265 calls, Cardonald 1,044 and Inverness 832 calls.