Shockingly, nearly one in three has been abused by patients or their relatives.

Paramedic Alan Peart tells of being verbally and physically attacked, confronted by knife-wielding thugs and jostled while trying to help someone who had collapsed in a chip shop.

Fellow ambulance workers racing to a 999 call had their windscreen smashed by a traffic cone, while others have had to quit after being beaten up.

Meanwhile, doctors and nurses have to be protected by security guards as they work to save lives at our hospitals.

Is this really the way to treat people who have dedicated their lives to trying to help others?

Health bosses are right to pursue a zero tolerance stance while at the same time training their staff to deal with whatever is thrown at them.

A few months ago Leeds woman Claire Woolerton was jailed for eight months after she attacked a paramedic who had been called out to a fight she was having with another woman.

More prosecutions must follow if the message is to hit home that such behaviour is completely unacceptable.

The job of our medical workers is difficult enough. We should not be making it even harder.


Losing out...again

ANOTHER day, another utility bill going up.

This time it's water that's set to see a price hike, with companies seeking permission to bring in inflation-busting rises.

Yorkshire Water wants to introduce five annual increases of inflation plus 0.6 per cent.

It's less than other water firms but still adds to the heavy burden on hard-working families.

The water regulator Ofwat has the power to say no, of course. But don't hold your breath.

We can only hope Gordon Brown's much-talked-about windfall tax on energy arrives sooner rather than later and is widened to include water companies.

Too many big firms are jumping on the price hike bandwagon...and bleeding us all dry in the process.


The art of love

WHEN Leeds sculptor Melanie Wilks was asked to create statues for Morley Town Hall she wasn't looking for love...

But it turned up anyway in the guise of stoneblaster Neil Whitehead.

The pair met when she was looking for raw material at the local quarry.

Romance blossomed and their love was soon set in stone.

Now Neil's provided Melanie with another nice big rock... and this one's of the diamond variety.