A TEENAGE motorcyclist is fighting for his life after being involved in a crash in Melton in early today.The incident occurred as beleaguered ambulance crews were stretched to their limits as they tried to cope with demand over the New Year.

A TEENAGE motorcyclist is fighting for his life after being involved in a crash in Melton in early today.

The incident occurred as beleaguered ambulance crews were stretched to their limits as they tried to cope with demand over the New Year.

The biker, who was seriously injured, was riding a Honda motorcycle when he was involved in collision with a Vauxhall Omega.

The accident happened around 1.45am on the A1152 near Wilford Bridge.

Paramedics initially treated the young man at the scene. He was then taken to Ipswich Hospital with what were described by a Suffolk police spokesman as "life-threatening multiple injuries"

The teenager, believed to be in his late teens and local to the Melton area, is currently in the hospital's intensive care unit.

The male driver of the Omega was not thought to have been injured in the crash.

The crash was one 271 emergency calls across reported to ambulance staff throughout Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge between 8pm yesterday and 6am today.

The peak period was between 1am to 1.59am when the service received an emergency call to the control room every 30 seconds.

The figure was a 40 per cent increase over the same period during the Millennium celebrations.

Call-outs attended included assaults, road traffic accidents and medical emergencies – although ambulance bosses say no one category outweighed any other.

Dispatch supervisor Jason Lennon said extra staff were brought in to cope with demand.

"It was very busy but with extra resources in the control room and on the road we coped.

"We were obviously stretched but not to a significant level that we could not cope as we did deploy extra resources in anticipation of demand."

Ambulance personnel reported 85 emergency call-outs in Suffolk in a seven-hour period between midnight and 7am.

During the night an 18-year-old boy was taken to Ipswich Hospital after an assault at Zest Nightclub in Princes Street at 2.58am.

Police also experienced a busy night.

The peak period was around 4am when police counted 41 people in custody alone across the county.

Other people were arrested during the night although police were unable to put a figure on total arrests over New Year.

Control room inspector at Suffolk police headquarters Jim White said more staff were on duty over New Year to cope with demand.

He said: "It was the normal situation where a lot of people enjoyed themselves but a minority had too much to drink and kept us on our toes by getting themselves into fights etc.

"I don't know how many arrests over the course of the night because we don't keep a running total. But I imagine it was quite a high number because of the nature of the night.

"We expect a busy New Year's Eve and last night wasn't any different.

"A lot of people go out and get very drunk and some people can't hold their drink, unfortunately, so we get some trouble where people are taken into custody.

"It is a minority, but unfortunately it is a very noticeable minority." He said the majority of arrests are drink related.

N Witnesses to the Wilford Bridge crash should telephone Pc Richard Wright at Suffolk Police headquarters traffic unit on 01473 613500.