Mad Friday lived up to its name in Huddersfield. Examiner crime reporter Robert Sutcliffe went out on patrol with Sgt Mandy Mellor to see at first hand the worst effects of Christmas spirit.

It started slowly but by the end of the night Mad Friday had more than lived up to its unwanted reputation in Huddersfield town centre.

Mad Friday is the name given to the last Friday before Christmas when friends and work colleagues hit town for a booze-fuelled party night.

During the afternoon the town’s hostelries did a steady trade, however, as the evening progressed, a catalogue of incidents saw police officers and ambulance services pressed into action.

Out on patrol with Sgt Mandy Mellor our first encounter with Huddersfield’s darker side occurred on Cross Church Street outside Herbert’s bar at 9.30pm when a bald man in a Christmas jumper suffered a minor head wound following a scuffle with another man. He was treated by paramedics.

A more serious incident soon followed at the Slug and Lettuce in King Street where another shaven-headed young man was treated by paramedics for an ugly head wound after being stamped on.

An ambulance arrives in Kingsgate after a young man is assaulted in Slug and Lettuce hostelry

And Sgt Mellor needed all her 29 years’ experience when a known persistent offender, with a long record of previous convictions, began drunkenly haranguing door staff at The Lord Wilson.

Sgt Mellor persuaded him to leave the area but not before he hurled a full can of beer at passing revellers enjoying the sound of Dexys Midnight Runners hit Come on Eileen being pumped out of 80s bar Mavericks.

Back on Cross Church Street the sergeant tried her best to dampen down a heated argument between two young men angry at not being allowed in by door staff at Revolution following a dispute over one of the men’s choice of footwear.

The sight of police officers and ambulances upset one female reveller in a Christmas jumper who paused to ask Sgt Mellor “if it was safe to stay out?” Reassured she carried on with her evening’s entertainment.

Sgt Mellor, who finished her shift at 4am, said: “It certainly was madness and much busier than a normal Friday night.”