A MAN who rang 999 because he wanted an ambulance crew to help him change his TV channel will not be welcome this, or any other, Christmas, according to ambulance bosses.

Real examples of bizarre, time-wasting calls to North-East ambulance control were revealed yesterday in an effort to make people think twice about dialling 999 for an ambulance.

These include:

* a caller who was worried because a mouse had eaten someone's medicine

* a girl who broke her nail in a nightclub toilet

* and a drunk who phoned for an ambulance because the taxi rank queue was too long and he didn't have enough money to get home.

Last December, the North-East Ambulance Service saw a 15 per cent increased in 999 calls during Christmas, with the public making 22,166 calls compared with 18,792 calls the previous month.

Control room manager Graham Robinson said: "We certainly don't want to deter anyone from calling 999 for life-threatening situations, but we want the public to think before calling for an ambulance.

"At this time of the year when the festivities are beginning, our demand increases dramatically, so we urge members of the public not to call 999 unnecessarily."

Mr Robinson pointed out that calling 999 for an ambulance does not get someone to the front of the accident and emergency queue at hospital.

"All patients are seen on the base of medical need, not how they arrive at the hospital," he said.

People should only dial 999 if there is an emergency involving a critical or life-threatening situation, such as someone with chest pains or breathing difficulties, or someone who has collapsed or is unconscious, someone who is severely traumatised or in severe pain and bleeding, or after a serious road accident.

For life-threatening emergency calls, the ambulance service aims to be at the scene within eight minutes.