Hoax 999 callers can have 'extremely serious consequences', the ambulance service has warned, as the highest volume of fake dials within the North West are coming from Greater Manchester.
New data has revealed that the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has received almost 4,000 fake calls since 2018.
Of those 3,723 calls, some 1,606 came from within Greater Manchester.
The figure from within Greater Manchester is almost double that of the next highest region, Merseyside, which accounts for 870 of the calls made in the three-year period.
The volume of hoax calls rose from 2018, when there were 443 from the Greater Manchester area, to 506 in 2019.
The number dropped to 372 during 2020 as the pandemic began, out of a total of 753 across the whole of the North West.
This was followed by another dip to 276 coming from Greater Manchester in 2021, out of a total of 655.
As of January, 2022, according to the latest data released through a Freedom of Information Act request, there have been nine hoax calls to NWAS from Greater Manchester so far this year.
The figures have led the service to slam hoax callers, urging people to respect the 999 service after a year where it has seen an unprecedented demand of real emergencies.
A spokesman from North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “Making a 999 call at any time of the year for anything other than a life-threatening or serious emergency puts lives at risk.
“Any call that is not a medical emergency takes up valuable time and resources which can prevent or delay our ambulance crews getting to those who are in the most urgent need of our help.
“The trust receives a relatively low number of hoax calls compared to the number of calls for real incidents but what may seem like a laugh and a joke can have extremely serious consequences.
"Those who do think this is funny should imagine if their own relative couldn’t get through to us because the line was occupied by someone making a prank call. This is why it’s really important to respect the 999 service and only use it when really needed.”
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