A BUS that has saved the NHS more than £50,000 in A&E admissions by treating drunk and injured party-goers in the town centre has been dubbed “an unfortunate truth” by a borough councillor.

During a full council meeting Bet Tickner asked lead councillor for neighbourhoods Liz Terry what outcome had been achieved since the First Stop Bus project began in December 2013.

Cllr Terry explained the bus, operated by volunteers from The Mustard Tree Foundation, has treated a total of 475 people providing help, support and medical treatment, with 71 per cent of those cases requiring the individual to attend A&E.

But despite calling the project a “much-needed service” for the town, Cllr Tickner said the council had no choice but to establish imaginative ways to tackle what she calls “a serious problem”.

At the meeting on March 24 she said: “The bus is a great addition to the town but it’s just such a shame that some people think that to have a good time at the weekend you need to have too much to drink.

“We don’t want our town centre to be about that but we cannot stop it from happening. I suppose the bus is an unfortunate truth but we have to come up with imaginative ways of being able to tackle this serious problem.”

The bus, which belongs to Reading Borough Council and costs around £80,000 to kit out, is divided into different areas including an upstairs space used by police to take statements, a downstairs treatment area, a patient waiting room and on occasions such as match days and payday weekend, additional outside seating.

The Mustard Tree Foundation director Lorraine Briffitt said: “The bus is popular, particularly around payday where people have gone out celebrating a little too much, so to speak, and also match days where the fans might have had a bit of a scuffle outside a bar or club.

“These things happen, it’s not a secret, but what’s great about the service is that it’s taking that extra strain off paramedics and is a really helpful addition to the Reading community that really meets a clear need in the town.”

The vehicle is also used to deliver lessons on alcohol abuse and misuse to schools around the borough.

The Mustard Tree Foundation have been contracted by the council to deliver the service until June 2016 but work on securing funding past that date has already begun.