Fire crews in the Braintree district were called out 47 times in ten years to help paramedics deal with obese patients.

In total, fire crews in Essex have carried out 465 “bariatric assists” since 2004.

Crews from Braintree station attended 25 incidents, Witham crews went to nine and Halstead attended eight.

Firefighters from Coggeshall were called out to two assists and Sible Hedingham and Wethersfield both had one each.

The number of times crews were needed to help lift obese people or offer specialist advice or equipment has decreased as the ambulance service has updated its vehicle fleet.

A Fire Service spokesman said: “We are attending less of these incidents but we are an emergency resource available to attend when we are required.

“We are here to assist anyone who needs us.”