THE freezing weather on New Year's Eve landed paramedics in a spot of difficulty when they were forced to call out the local mountain rescue team.

Parts of Rossendale were covered in so much snow that vehicles were left stranded and abandoned on main roads.

Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team were called out to a total of nine incidents across the Valley -- where they remained on stand-by for the majority of the night.

They were sent in their 4x4 vehicle to incidents in Bacup, Stacksteads, Haslingden, Whitworth and Rawtenstall -- where at some points the snow was more than a foot deep. Andy Simpson, spokesman for Mountain Rescue, said: "We were called out at the beginning of the night by Greater Manchester Ambulance Service, but when the weather started getting really bad we ended up stopping in Rossendale so we could assist the ambulance service as quickly as possible.

"The main issue was access problems. As soon as the snow starts to cover the roads it creates major problems for ordinary vehicles in gripping the road and gaining access." Four people were taken to nearby Fairfield Hospital, in Bury, on, traditionally, one of the ambulance services' busiest nights of the year.

Mr Simpson said: "One person had a stroke, another broke a wrist, one person had an eye injury and another had an accident when deciding to go sledging at 2am."

Emergency calls started at about 11pm and didn't stop until 6.30am on New Years Day.

Nathan Hearn, resource manager at Lancashire Ambulance Service, said: "We always have a pre-coordinated plan on New Years Eve to join forces with voluntary organisations such as the Mountain Rescue Team, St John Ambulance and the Red Cross.

"The plan prevents us from being caught out if there are severe weather conditions, to avoid the weather having a negative affect.

"Luckily, we were aware during the day that in Rossendale there had been high winds and snow, so we could implement the plan.

"As usual, New Year's Eve was busy, but it wasn't any busier than we would usually expect."

"The Mountain Rescue Team did a brilliant job and we are extremely thankful to them for helping us out."