Shropshire hoaxer makes 170 bogus 999 calls in just over a year

The man, who has not been named but is said to be from the Market Drayton area, made the string of calls between October 2014 and December last year, police have revealed. None of the calls warranted an ambulance call out.

The nuisance caller, who has also contacted police on 80 separate occasions, has been questioned by officers and warned of the potential consequences of his actions.

Ambulance chiefs today said 91 ambulance shifts were effectively lost in Shropshire during the 2014/15 financial year due to 10 people making frequent 999 calls at a cost of £190,000 to the service.

Constable Mick Sturland, of West Mercia Police's safer neighbourhood team for Market Drayton, said: "There was no abuse or threats to the call taker, but he was more of a nuisance caller.

"He has medical problems but that does not warrant that many calls to the service.

"He has also called us over 80 times and while we have supported him, as have other agencies, this needed to be addressed. We interviewed and warned him of his actions.

"The cost to West Midlands Ambulance Service was £25,000.

"Please think before you call 999. This could land this gentleman in some hot water, so use the services wisely."

Rob Cole, WMAS head of clinical practice, said: "The main reasons behind these calls are long-term problems such as mental health, chronic pain and alcohol.

"These patients all have needs that require addressing, but these aren't things that the ambulance service, nor hospitals can help with. But it is draining these health service resources.

"To address the issues, we discuss the patients' needs with social services, lead consultants, carers, police, community matrons, clinical commissioners and GPs.

"We all collectively try to do what we can to provide the right long-term care but if the calls continue and they are deemed inappropriate, we may have to resort to the courts.

"We need to highlight the effect of inappropriate use of the ambulance service. If you don't use us responsibly, the impact it has on other people is huge. It's not just the financial cost, it's the effective removal of ambulances for people who really need them."

About 40 calls made to WMAS between Christmas Eve and January 3 this year were identified as hoax calls.

In October alone, the service dealt with 70 hoax or inappropriate calls. The calls came from across the region, and included one in Telford and another in Shrewsbury.