THE ambulance service has called for people to use it sensibly after someone dialled 999 for an ambulance because they were locked out.
Another caller wanted help after a bird escaped in their front room, while someone else phoned when their boiler broke down.
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) urged the public not to make calls that waste valuable time during the busy festive period.
At this time of year, staff deal with a 20-30% surge in calls at peak periods.
Pauline Howie, Chief Executive of the SAS, said: "Our staff work tirelessly to respond to calls for help, but the 999 service is for serious emergencies - and we are asking the public to use it wisely so that we can continue to send ambulances quickly to those who need us most.
"At peak periods, like the festive season, every inappropriate call has the potential to delay a response to a serious emergency."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article