EMERGENCY services in Swindon today reminded the public to think twice before dialling 999.

Police, fire and ambulance services say they have to contend with large numbers of malicious, accidental and inappropriate calls every day stretching resources and putting lives at risk.

Wiltshire police spokeswoman Jackie Broadbridge said the majority of non-malicious calls are sent from mobile telephones when the 999 number is inadvertently dialled in their pocket.

"We also get calls from young children who pick up the telephone," she said. "These sort of calls are fairly routine.

"We want to make sure that the message is clear. All calls using the 999 emergency number should be those where someone is in danger of injury or death and need an urgent response from either the police, ambulance, or fire service."

Swindon Fire station officer Andy Hargreaves said nuisance 999 calls remained a problem.

Accidental calls are partly to blame, especially from mobile phones.

"But people who deliberately make false calls are putting lives at risk," he said.

Hoax calls are classed as a criminal offence and offenders can face up to six months in prison and a substantial fine.

Mr Hargreaves said: "What many people may not realise is that they could be responsible for someone's death.

"If our engines are diverted to one area of the town and then we get a genuine emergency call from another, it could put lives at risk. In a fire, even seconds can make the difference between life and death."

The level of inappropriate calls is underlined by figures released by Wiltshire Ambulance NHS Trust which revealed that of only 25 per cent of the 41,000 emergency calls they received last year were shown to be life-threatening.

Clinical manager for the Trust, Kathy Shears, said that while it was important to reduce the number of inappropriate calls to the service she also wanted to encourage people with suspected heart attack symptoms to seek emergency help.

n 999 should only be only be used where there is risk of injury or death. For routine enquiries call: Police Swindon 528111; Fire (01380) 723601; Ambulance (01249) 443939.

Expert advice on medical matters is also available 24-hours a day from NHS Direct on 08454647.