Bank holiday timewasters slammed for dialling 999 to get help with with rubbish collections and changing the TV channel

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Ambulance operators have slammed time wasting callers who have used the 999 system to ask for their rubbish to be collected.

The emergency services have revealed how they have also been rung up by people who could not change their television channels or make a cup of tea.

Now the Exeter-based West Country Ambulance Trust have appealed to the public to use the 999 system only for genuine emergencies.

The service has become the first in the country to bring clinical advisers into their control room so they can give specialist help over the phone while an ambulance is on the way to an emergency.

The change means it is even more important that only real emergencies are passed on to them.

Public involvement manager Lynne Paramor said: "Half our calls are not emergencies. We have even had calls from people asking us to take their rubbish away.

"This often happens on bank holidays when they have nobody else to ring and so dial 999.

"It is scandalous because they are holding up a line and someone in a real emergency may not get through.

"Someone else asked if we would come and switch the TV over because they could not get out of bed.

"We get people ringing up and asking us if we want a cup of tea because they are lonely while others want medicines taken round to their homes.

"We only have 40 lines and it may take longer to answer them because we get hundreds of non-emergency calls each month.

"People are not thinking before they dial 999 and this can cause misery those in real need.

"We need to streamline the calls. We have clinical advisers in the control room, some of whom are former nurses.

"We get so many calls we are transferring some of them to NHS Direct if they do not need an ambulance.

"Some of the callers clearly have mental health needs and others are just pushing their luck or not understanding what the 999 system is for.

"They do not ask if their call is having an impact on other people or the resources they are tying up.

"We need to educate the public and make sure the right people get the right response.

"People need to think before they dial 999 if it is an emergency or if they would be better off calling a relative or friend or a GP or a voluntary service."