The assaults also happen in beautiful rural villages in Cheshire, this is not unique to Liverpool

Peter Mulkay, Merseyside Regional Ambulance Service

Peter Mulkay, head of emergency paramedic services for the Merseyside Regional Ambulance Service told BBC News Online: "The trial is to check the ability of staff to carry out duties like climbing in and out of crashed cars and so on.

"Staff have requested that we consider them and the trials will be for at least six months.

"All our staff get training in control and breakaway techniques and the psychology of controlling potentially violent situations.

Dangerous work

"All our vehicles have panic buttons and we try to identify potentially dangerous incidents before our staff arrive at the scene.

"We also encourage prosecution of people who have attacked paramedics, and there are three people in jail at the moment."

Verbal assaults are reported every week, and although there have been no stabbings, some paramedics have been threatened with sharp objects or even had replica firearms pointed at them.

Only four of the 592 staff will be wearing the vests initially.

'Crisis point'

Each garment is made to measure and has an outer foam layer covering an inner stab-proof layer, which contains metal plates.

The services' area manager for West Merseyside and Cheshire, Ian Fitton said: "It is becoming increasingly more intense over the last number of years, and particularly as we come into this part of the year we are expecting an even greater increase of the assaults.

"We are at crisis point - in fact there is hardly a night goes past when as least one member of my staff has not been assaulted either physically or verbally."

The level of assaults on Merseyside is about the same as the national average.

Mr Mulkay added: "The assaults also happen in beautiful rural villages in Cheshire. This is not unique to Liverpool."