Help! There's a cat in my house!

"It is possible that lives could be put in danger if a significant number of improper 999 calls are made at the same time.

"It could be the thing that caused a serious injury, or even a death.

"We may also lose valuable evidence, we may even lose an arrest."

Ambulance officer Peter Whitaker tells Monday's World In Action programme of the effect of non-emergency calls on staff.

He said: "I've seen many people go out of here really stressed ... in tears not because of any mistakes but by the enormous pressures put on any ambulance service to give the best service to the genuine people who need the appropriate medical services."

The cost of the 100,000 hoax calls made nationally every year is estimated at �20m.

Time-wasting calls this year include a woman who reported a cat had crept into her house and a call from a commuter who had missed his last train home.

Others were:

• A father-to-be asking for an ambulance for his wife who was in labour - because he was waiting for a pizza to be delivered

• A man asking if his �20 note had been handed in

• A pregnant woman asking if she had to wear a seatbelt

• A man who had lost his dog

• A man complaining that his Chinese takeaway was cold

• A woman trying to sell the operator a pair of shoes

• A man who asked for an ambulance because he was constipated

• A woman who dialled 999 because she had soap in her eye.