A quarter of 999 calls do not need an emergency response

"Call an ambulance for the wrong reason and someone could die" is the message which will be seen on 15,000 posters throughout northern England from Monday.

Eight services - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cumbria, North East, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Tees, East and North Yorkshire (Tenyas) - are backing the campaign.

It has been launched to coincide with the run-up to Christmas - the busiest time of year for ambulance crews.

Lives at risk

Every year, up to a quarter of all 999 calls do not require an emergency response, said Tim Lynch, director of patient services at Tenyas.

"We are not talking about hoax calls but people demanding an ambulance for all manner of reasons, including toothache and other minor ailments," he said.

"Many are under the misapprehension that if they get to casualty in an ambulance they'll jump the queue.

While I'm with Mr Smith and his stubbed toe, I can't get to Mrs Jones's little girl who's just been hit by a car Paramedic Ron Wilkinson

"The point is when we're dealing with calls like this we can't get to the life-threatening emergencies, thus putting the lives of other patients at risk."

Controllers for the Tees, East and North Yorkshire service are already dealing with 400 to 600 emergency calls a day and that is expected to rise to 900 a day over the peak festive period, a Tenyas spokesman said.

Hull-based paramedic Ron Wilkinson said: "I hope the poster will make people sit up and think about why we have emergency ambulances.

"As trained paramedics when we respond to a call, we're expecting to find a patient that requires our life-saving skills.

"But there are times when a patient would have been better served by a visit to their pharmacist or GP.

"In a nutshell, while I'm with Mr Smith and his stubbed toe, I can't get to Mrs Jones's little girl who's just been hit by a car down the road."