Bloody New Year of chaos

BRITAIN suffered one its bloodiest New Years ever as midnight ushered in a murder and a spate of stabbings, shootings and beatings.

Ambulance crews dealt with the highest number of casualties since the Millennium celebration.
In LONDON the ambulance service was four times busier than usual — answering 1,562 emergency calls between midnight and 4am.

A total of 148 people were treated for minor injuries and another 45 taken to hospital. Four people were fighting for their lives last night. Two men suffered life-threatening stab wounds just after midnight at the New Connaught Rooms club in Covent Garden, Central London.

Meanwhile a gunman opened fire inside the Elbow Rooms club in Islington, North London, leaving a 21-year-old in critical condition. A woman, 23, and a man of 22 were also shot.

Cops had to evacuate 1,500 clubbers from The Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion in West London as firemen tackled a blaze inside. Another partygoer was stabbed at 5.30am in Barking, East London. Special “booze buses” took people with minor injuries to hospital.

By 3am, police had made nearly 100 arrests in Central London.

London Ambulance Service boss Ian Todd said: “At the busiest point of the evening our staff were taking over 450 calls an hour.”