A MAN became violent and abusive with paramedics, throwing empty cans of alcohol at their ambulance and punching its doors, heard Skipton Magistrates Court.

Andrew Peacock, 40, called 999 twice in short succession from outside Settle Town Hall during the evening of November 12 last year, claiming he was experiencing chest pains.

The second time he called, he threatened to throw himself in front of a train if an ambulance did not arrive, the court heard on Tuesday.

In March, Peacock, of Barrel Sykes, Settle, denied breaching a criminal behaviour order put in place in September 2015 by Flyde Coast Magistrates preventing him from calling the ambulance service when there was no genuine emergency.

He also denied assaulting a paramedic and failing to appear at court in Skipton on March 1.

His trial went ahead in his absence on Tuesday after he failed to turn up with magistrates finding him guilty on all three counts, and issuing a warrant for his arrest.

Daniel Carter, a paramedic with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who responded to both calls on November 12, said Peacock had been drinking and in his opinion there had been 'no emergency whatsoever'.

He had been sitting on a bench, holding cans of alcohol when they had arrived on both occasions and had repeatedly asked for 'spray' that was back at his home.

Mr Carter repeatedly asked Peacock to describe his pain, but he refused to co-operate, became aggressive, punched the ambulance and threw cans at the windscreen. He also took hold of Mr Carter's arm, leading the paramedic to believe he was going to bite him.

The paramedics drove off to a safe distance, called the police and waited for them to arrive.

Prosecutor, Nicki Forster, said police arrived at about 11pm, talked to the paramedics and found Peacock outside the town hall. He was in drink, was unsteady on his feet, and had slurred speech. He was arrested, and taken to the police station where the next day, he told officers he had drunk 20 cans of cider, and claimed that he had been knocked down by a car, that someone had called an ambulance for him, and that he believed he had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly.