Exclusive: South Western Ambulance receives 444 hoax calls in a year
Our FOI data reveals the service is taking hundreds of fake emergency calls
Last updated 17 hours ago
Exclusive data obtained through a Freedom of Information request reveals the South Western Ambulance Service received over 400 hoax calls in a year.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, the service documented 444 false 999 calls, with March 2025 recording the highest number at 51, according to the data obtained via FOI.
Fake emergencies can divert critical attention away from true crisis situations where lives are at risk, making responsible use of emergency lines a necessity.
“We have had a call in the past from a child where they said that somebody wasn’t breathing and understandably we went as a highest priority to that call," said Lauren Male, deputy head of the Bristol control room.
"When we got there there was no caller and no patient at that address.”
“It’s really hard because our call handlers will have taken that call and triaged that call and for them it may have felt very real they may have had that ambulance going to somebody else to someone that was genuinely in need of the ambulance.”
Male highlighted how serious-sounding hoax calls can trigger an urgent response, only to later be revealed as false:
“Unfortunately we do get some that are very worrying where it comes through and it sounds like something extremely serious and we obviously send our vehicles and it turns out not to be true and those are really quite distressing for everyone involved as I’m sure you can imagine.”
“And then you have our crews that are going to this they actually get into a headspace they get prepared they think what drugs are they going to be given? What treatment are we going to be giving so then get there and find it not true. It’s just a real shock."
The south western ambulance service continues its call for the public to reserve emergency lines for true emergencies, ensuring resources can be allocated where genuinely needed.