EAST Lancashire's leading emergency doctor has warned that a host of seasonal dangers lurking in the home could ruin the holiday season.

And if you haven't put your tree up already then take warning - baubles could land you in hospital.

Dr Sanjoy Bhattacharyya, clinical operations director for A&E for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said staff see a host of decoration-related calamities each year.

He added: "People can hurt themselves when they put Christmas trees up, we have seen people cut themselves after stepping on little baubles that have fallen off the tree.

"At Christmas time things are lying all over the floor and people do things like twist their ankle when stepping over presents and decorations.

"People put horrendous amounts of decorations all over the house, in the garden, on the roof and that can cause an overload on the electrics.

"Lights can also explode causing burns and cause electrocution because of the amount of electricity you are dealing with. It is important to be safe and make sure you get your lights checked out before you put them up."

Britain's fondness for over-indulging on food and drink come the Christmas season also sees many groaning East Lancashire residents spend Christmas Day in hospital, Dr Bhattacharyya said.

He said: "You see people with abdominal pain and indigestion because they have eaten too much.

"It is also injuries from general merry making, people are elated, they don't know what they are doing so they can bang themselves around and end up in hospital."

Of course Christmas presents many more serious dangers to the public, he said - mostly alcohol.

Dr Bhattacharyya said: "On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve we see horrendous numbers of alcohol related incidents mainly because they have drunk not to enjoy themselves but to get out of their mind and that leads to fighting.

"You can get underage drinking that comes in throughout the year but more during Christmas time."

He warned: "Drink to enjoy yourself - don't drink to an extent where you start arguments and fight because those injuries can be serious. Even if you have just had a sip you should not drive. If you have suffered a head injury from a crash the alcohol in your system makes it more difficult to assess."

Last December Blackburn Royal Infirmary A&E saw 6,150 patients at A&E and Burnley General saw 5,359.

For East Lancashire this was the ninth busiest month for A&E of the 2005/06 operating year. Of these patients 175 had to wait more than four hours, missing a key Government target - to see 98 per cent of patients in this time.