A MAN made an emergency 999 call to the ambulance service operating in Bucks because he needed a lift home from Reading town centre.

The call came earlier this month and is just one of a list of inappropriate reasons for making emergency calls that have been made public by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust this week.

The time-wasting calls have prompted a call from the Trust for residents only to use the 999 number in genuine emergencies.

Other reasons for residents making 999 calls included broken fingernails, lightbulbs that needed changing, TV remote controls that needed fixing and requests to attend to sick pets.

The service says it also took emergency calls asking them to deal with noisy neighbour complaints, burns caused by hot food and because a caller ran out of credit on his mobile phone and could not contact his GP.

Will Hancock, CEO of SCAS, said: "I would like to encourage everyone to take a look at our hard hitting campaign film '999 South Central' which shows just how lives are put at risk when 999 is called inappropriately.

"Everyone at SCAS is committed to continually improving the service we provide to the community and we would urge members of the public to help us and only use 999 when it is absolutely necessary.

"Overall the public are very supportive of the ambulance service. However, there are a number of people who do abuse it. Demand on the ambulance services has doubled in the last 10 years and we really need people to use the service appropriately to ensure that the most acutely unwell patients receive treatment as soon as possible."

The '999 South Central' film can be seen at www.999southcentral.co.uk.

Residents are reminded that if they are suffering an injury or illness which is non life threatening they could first visit a pharmacy, contact a GP or out of hours GP, call NHS111, used a walk in centres and Minor Injuries Units or access NHS Choices online at www.nhs.uk to check your symptoms and find your nearest service.