EMERGENCY service staff are having to deal with an increasing number of time-wasting calls, including one from someone who wanted a cold drink.

Ambulance service crews from the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas) have also recently been called by a woman who was concerned about her sick cat and by a man who wanted to know where he could buy cigarettes on a bank holiday.

Another "emergency" was someone who had lost a handbag and needed help to find it.

It is estimated that one in four calls is unnecessary. The service yesterday launched a campaign to ask people to use the 999 service wisely.

Chief executive Jayne Barnes said: "Inappropriate calls are a real problem because they divert emergency resources away from patients with potentially life-threatening, time-critical conditions.

"In October alone, the number of life-threatening calls received by the service increased by four per cent, so if we can reduce the number of inappropriate calls, this would be of great benefit to us.

"We don't want to deter people from calling 999 if it is a genuine emergency, but we need to let people know that there are a range of other services, like NHS Direct, their GP or pharmacy."