Lives across the county are being put at risk every day because the 999 service is being abused.

That's the warning from Kent Police as details of some of the nuisance calls it receives are released.

Requests for taxis, chemist opening times and reports of lost dogs are just some of the time-wasting 'emergencies' people phone the Kent Police Force Communications Centre (FCC) on a weekly basis, according to a police spokesman.

In the last 12 weeks alone, FCC staff have fielded the following calls from members of the public:

• A worried mother who rang 999 to ask police to collect her drunken son from Brighton and return him home safely. When asked how old her son was, the caller replied: 32;
• A man trying to buy cigarettes in a shop was asked for identification. He rang 999 and asked them to look him up on the police systems to verify who he was and that he was 19, so he could buy his cigarettes.
• A drunk man who had left his coat in a bar. He phoned 999 to say he was going to kick the door in to get it back;
• An abusive woman who rang 999 twice to ask for the Citizens Advice Bureau's number.

Audio: Listen to two of the nuisance 999 calls received by Kent Police

Ch Insp Simon Black from Kent Police's FCC said: "Inappropriate or negligent calls to the 999 service may not appear significant to the caller, but every second of those calls means lives are being put in serious danger.

"Lost pets, train timetables, chemist opening times and directions are not a matter for 999."

The force claims around 10 per cent of the 250,000 calls made to the 999 service each year are nuisance ones.

Callers who abuse 999 can have their phone disconnected, be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £90 or be arrested for public nuisance and receive a criminal record.