UNDER-PRESSURE ambulance bosses have warned that callers who misuse the 999 emergency service risk prosecution or legal action, after receiving more than 2,200 time-wasting calls in the last 12 weeks.

North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) managers said their control room had dealt with 2,231 “inappropriate” calls in the last three months.

The figures were revealed as part of a major new initiative by the North-East NHS to protect the 999 emergency ambulance service from abuse.

Last week NEAS announced it was under “severe pressure” and was upgrading its operational status to level four (out of six) - which means that A&E vehicles may take longer to get to potentially life-threatening calls.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service is already running at level five.

NHS bosses are appealing to the public to act responsibly or face possible sanctions.

People who make grossly inappropriate 999 calls are being warned that they risk being reported to the police or the NHS Legal Protection Unit with a view to criminal or civil proceedings.

Nuisance callers could be liable to a civil injunction or an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO).

Time-wasting and inappropriate calls included: a patient who wanted an ambulance to take him to a cashpoint; someone who wanted a lift home after a night out because the police wouldn’t oblige; a bad hangover; a "really bad" cold; a cut finger, an ill pet; a sprained ankle; feeling very tired; a bleeding spot and a finger nail bleeding because it was cut too short.

Yvonne Ormston, NEAS Chief Executive, said: “We take the inappropriate use of ambulance resources extremely seriously. Improper calls into our 999 and 111 contact centres and the unnecessary dispatch of resources reduce the number available for genuine emergencies.

“That genuine emergency could be someone you know and care about; it could even be a member of your family.

“Before you make that call, think to yourself ‘is this an emergency?’ If the answer is no, please find an alternative way of getting help. An ambulance will not guarantee you will be seen any quicker.”

Since declaring level four NEAS has pressed passenger transport vehicles paramedic trainers and clinically-qualified managers into frontline emergency duties to try to plug the gaps.

Last Saturday the NEAS took 1,900 calls in just 24 hours.

The NEAS plea for the public to behave more responsibly as we enter the coldest part of winter has been echoed by the 12 North-East Clinical Commissioning Groups

Dr Andrea Jones, a GP in Darlington and chair of NHS Darlington Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The NHS belongs to all of us and in the North-East we have a proud history of close working across all NHS services.

"We really need the help of those people who do not need to call 999 or go to A&E, to help our doctors, nurses and paramedics so they can provide the very best care they can to those who need it most this Christmas.”

Dr Jones advised that if someone has an injury or ailment which is not an emergency, they can call NHS 111, or seek help from their GP, pharmacist or local walk-in or urgent centre.

Advice on how to treat common winter conditions by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home or speaking to your local pharmacist is available at keepcalmthiswinter.org.uk or @keepcalmne.