WATCH: Hoax call diverts ambulance from real emergency

East Midlands ambulance service has released a recording of a telephone conversation following a hoax 999 call which cost the public almost £2,500 and saw an ambulance diverted from a real emergency.

On Friday (7 April), a child made a hoax 999 call, reporting that a young girl had been run over by a car and had died.

A number of ambulances, including one by air, were sent to the scene to treat the patient, but when they arrived there was no-one at the address and it became clear the call had been a hoax.

Yesterday, the service received a further three hoax calls from children.

Ewan Hinde, the Emergency Call Handler who took the hoax call, explained that it was only his third day in the job and that it was very disheartening to hear people misusing the service.