West Midlands 999 service receives hoax calls in Telford and Shrewsbury
West Midlands Ambulance Service dealt with 70 hoax or inappropriate calls last month, new figures have revealed.
The calls came from across the region with one in Telford and another in Shrewsbury.
Chris Kowalik, a spokesman for the service, said: "All 999 calls are received in good faith so to receive hoax or inappropriate calls is extremely disappointing. These calls waste valuable time and resources from an already busy ambulance service.
"We receive up to 3,000 calls a day but sometimes people forget that 999 is for life-threatening injuries and illnesses.
"It is extremely frustrating to have to deal with hoax calls when all we want to do is get the right help, to the right people, as quickly as possible.
"While dealing with hoax or inappropriate calls there are less resources available to deal with that life-threatening emergency so we ask everyone to think carefully before dialling 999."
Birmingham had 10 hoax calls, Stoke-on-Trent with seven and Coventry with six. Wolverhampton had three hoax calls, while there were also two from Sandwell, two from Dudley and one from Walsall.
A total of 37 of the calls came from an unknown location.
The data, obtained through a freedom of information request, is for the period July 24 to August 31.
Compared to the same period in 2013 and the number of hoax calls are down dramatically. In 2013 there were 140 such calls between July 24 and September 1.
