A homeless man has been arrested after two hoax 999 calls were made on the same night, sending ambulances to fictitious patients when they could have been dealing with people who were actually ill or injured.

Both calls were made yesterday evening and ambulances were sent first to Fawkham Road and then to St Edmund's Court, both in West Kingsdown.

The person making the calls first reported someone had stopped breathing and needed urgent medical attention. During the second call, he said a man had been stabbed in the leg.

Police officers attended with ambulance crews and it was quickly established that neither call was genuine.

A 24-year-old man, of no fixed address, was arrested in the Fawkham Road area on the same night on suspicion of misusing the 999 system.

He has been bailed until April 13.

Sergeant Zenia Culmer said: "Hoax calls are a criminal offence and will be fully investigated. Not only do they waste invaluable time, they can also slow down the response time to genuine emergencies which places lives at risk."