Paramedics will ride with officers in police cars to incidents including fights and car crashes at weekends.

Hounslow police will join forces with London Ambulance Service (LAS) from today to patrol between 9pm and 6am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The teams will respond to calls where it is likely someone has been injured, including fights, road collisions, collapses in the street and assaults.

The paramedic will deal with the injuries, allowing police officers to focus on criminal investigations.

Inspector Manpreet Bains of Hounslow police said: “A significant number of calls to the LAS on a Friday and Saturday night come from the police. Having a paramedic actually on patrol with police officers will mean they can attend and assess victims much more quickly.

“This will mean that an ambulance may not be needed, freeing up more ambulances to help those who really need it and improving their response times to other calls.

“For the police it gives them somebody who is readily available to deal with the many victims the police come across at the weekend.”

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