There have been 114 assaults on ambulance staff over the past two years.

They include 70 physical attacks against paramedics while on duty.

These new figures have been released by the National Ambulance Service under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

They show that, in 2018 and 2019, there were 114 assaults against ambulance staff.

Seventy were physical, 43 were verbal and one was sexual - which relates to a patient exposing themself to a staff member.

But Tina Martin, the co-chairperson of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, claims the problem is far worse than the statistics suggest.

She points to a survey of paramedics that found 68% of them had been assaulted over a two-year period.

"The incidence of assaults is increasing yearly - I'm in the job about 16 years and you wouldn't have heard of it, 16 years ago there'd be very little assaults.

"So it is increasing year by year.

"You would get physical assaults like slapping or hitting or pushing - and there'd be a lot of verbal abuse".

The National Ambulance Service says staff safety is a priority, and they are trained in the management of violence and aggression.