New Year proves a busy night for emergency services In London the Metropolitan Police said 96 people were arrested mainly for drunkenness, public disorder and assault. The West Midlands Ambulance Service reported a 15 per cent increase in 999 calls in the run up to midnight with most being for alcohol related incidents. Meanwhile in Kent, police were called to deal with a murder incident less than two hours into 2013. Officers were called to a disturbance Sittingbourne where a 21-year-old man was found with a stab wound. He was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Emergency services elsewhere in the UK were also kept busy following a spate of tragic incidents around the UK. In Lancashire rescue crews were searching a stretch of coastline around Blackpool after a 41-year-old man was swept into the sea as he was walking his dog. It is thought the man had been with two friends close to the town's South Pier when he was washed into the sea by a wave whipped up by game force winds. Two RNLI lifeboat crews from Blackpool and Lytham were joined by the Coastguard, the police and the fire service in the search for the man. An RAF helicopter from the Duke of Cambridge's base on Anglesey was also scrambled, but rescue teams admitted it was "highly unlikely" he could have survived. In Devon the police, the coastguard and the RNLI were involved in a major search for a 16-year-old who was spotted jumping from the Torpoint ferry in Devon. The alarm was raised shortly after 9pm when Jordan Cobb, from Plymouth was seen entering the River Tamar. Meanwhile in Hampshire a stretch of the eastbound M27 had to be closed following the death of a man who is believed to have fallen from a bridge. In Kent two people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a 28-year-old man was stabbed in the leg during a confrontation in Gillingham. Police were called to reports of violence at around 2.50am following an alleged assault by a group of around seven people. A 17-year-old youth and a 20-year-old man were arrested close to the scene and victim was taken to the Medway Maritime Hospital, where his injuries were not thought to be life threatening.