A MAN who glued five plastic cups to his head was among the most weird 999 calls to ambulance crews in the region.
One woman dialled 999 because she had the hiccups, while a rabbit owner rang up because her pet had a sore leg, said North East Ambulance Service (NEAS).
One caller even rang for help because a contact lens had become stuck in their eye.
Ambulance chiefs are today reminding people that the 999 service is for genuine emergencies only, and not for trivial matters.
A NEAS spokeswoman said: “All 999 calls are treated as an emergency.
“That means a call- taker has to go through a series of questions to establish the facts of an incident. Handling requests which are clearly not an emergency means a call-handler is tied up, when they could be despatching an ambulance to someone genuinely in need.”
The details of calls come as emergency services recover from their busy festive period.
NEAS received nearly 1,200 calls to 999 on what is known as “Black Eye Friday” night going into Saturday morning – a 20 per cent increase on a normal weekend.
The spokeswoman added that even the shortest calls can often divert emergency crews from genuine serious incidents, where lives may be in danger.
She said: “Speed is of the essence when dealing with a true emergency, and we need to make sure that people in need can get the help they require.”
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