WHILE the majority of the population were settling down to a traditional Christmas meal on Monday, there were hundreds of others across the county who were doing something quite different.

While Christmas Day is seen by many as the one day in the year on which they can be guaranteed a lie in, a big meal or an afternoon slumped in front of the TV, for many it was business as usual.

For the emergency services, it was an incredibly busy time.

Both the West Midlands Ambulance Service and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service reported a hectic day - not least of which was because of the fire at Spring Grove House, at West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley.

Instead of tucking into the meal they had planned back at the station, fire crews were out on Christmas Day dealing with the aftermath of the fire.

Of course, if you sign up to work in the emergency services, you expect to work unsociable hours - no matter how unpalatable.

But that should not lessen the effort made by police, fire and ambulance staff at this time of year.

We can all have a more enjoyable Christmas knowing that, in the event of an emergency, they were hard at work, providing the sort of cover that we take for granted.

Without the emergency services, none of us would enjoy our Christmas Day fun half as much. To them, we say thank you - and hope they can now enjoy some time off with their families.