PEOPLE are being urged to only dial 999 in an emergency in the run up to Christmas to avoid wasting valuable police time.
Last December, almost 39% of calls made using 999 were not emergencies - including abusive calls and some made bypeople who were drunk.
Some were hoax calls and some were people simply misusing the system because, for example, their mobile phones had run out of credit and 999 is free.
This year as part of its festive crime prevention initiative, Operation Shepherd, the Constabulary has launched a new campaign with the strap line 'Don't block the line. 999. Only in an emergency' in an effort to reduce the number of such calls.
* Police have released recordings of two hoax calls - to listen to them, click here.
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