ENGLAND’S World Cup exit at the hands of Germany led to a ‘shocking’ rise in the number of women needing treatment for domestic violence injuries.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) dealt with 77 incidents in the aftermath of Sunday’s game, a rise of 127 per cent from 34 callouts after England’s previous match against Slovenia.

In total, paramedics were called out to 557 incidents in Lancashire and Cumbria from 2pm on Sunday to 2am on Monday, up from 442 for the same time period the week before.

On the domestic violence rise, Derek Cartwright, director of emergency services for NWAS, said: “This is a very sobering statistic and one which we found extremely shocking.

“We should also bear in mind that these are only the incidents which have been reported and required an ambulance.

"There will be many more where the victim is too afraid to seek help for their injuries and we would urge them to do so as soon as possible.”

While the ambulance service saw a huge rise, it seems that wasn't translated into incidents actually being reported to police.

Detective Inspector Derry Crorken, from the police’s Public Protection Unit, said: “We have done a lot of prevention work to try and stop incidents occurring in the first place, such as visiting repeat offenders.

“As a result we have not seen a big rise in call outs during or after the football compared to other weekends.

“It is an awful crime to commit and we have a dedicated team of detectives just working on domestic violence incidents.

“There is usually a rise nationally when events such as the World Cup is on and that is fuelled by alcohol.”

Jonathan Fox, from the The Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel, the paramedics' union, said: “When paramedics are working on days such as this we have the calm before the storm.

“We get seasoned to the fact that things usually turn sinister once it is over and the alcohol and disappointment settles in.

“There are always going to be a number of violent incidents, either domestic violence or public order offences, and it is part and parcel of the job we have to do.

“It is not a nice experience for paramedics and we do not want to get involved in domestic violence incidents.

"If there is still a danger at the home then we will make sure we are backed up by police so we can treat the victim.”

Women’s Aid, the national charity which works to end domestic violence against women and children, said the World Cup was no excuse for domestic violence.

A spokesman said: “It does not remove responsibility for their behaviour.

“We would urge anyone who is afraid and who needs help in freeing themselves from a violent relationship to seek support at www.womensaid.org.uk or by contacting the police.

"People do not have to suffer in silence.”