THOUSANDS of time wasters are tying up emergency phone lines by dialling 999 without good reason, police chiefs have warned.

Hampshire police staff who have been specially trained to deal with crisis situations are instead being used as a directory service for people searching for plumbers and electricians.

One caller said he was stuck in a traffic jam and needed the toilet while another rang to report a rusty lamppost outside his shop. Now senior officers have joined forces with fire and ambulance service bosses to launch a campaign to target people who misuse the 999 number.

The Use It Don't Abuse It drive comes as the emergency services face their busiest time of the year.

About 800 non-emergency 999 calls were made to Hampshire police's control room at Netley during last August alone.

Some 4,800 nuisance 999 calls were made in the whole of 2003.

Chief Inspector Chris Brown said: "During the summer months we have many more holidaymakers in the two counties and combined with school holidays it means we are at our busiest. So it is more important than ever that 999 calls are emergencies. If not, callers' lives could be put at risk who do have genuine need for police help."

Police have now introduced a recorded message which will divert time-wasters and free up 999 lines for genuine emergency calls.

Chief Insp Brown said: "We are unable to transfer calls to our switchboard when we do realise they are non-emergencies so we have a voicemail message asking them to redial that number. Last year 4,802 calls were transferred to that message which shows the scale of the problem."

Earlier this year Hampshire Ambulance Service launched its own crackdown on crank callers after revealing they spent £3.7m answering unnecessary call-outs, including some from people who just wanted a lift home.

Chief executive Claire Severgnini said: "On a daily basis we deal with a number of callers who do not have a medical emergency. We are not just talking about hoax calls but people request ambulances for lots of different reasons including toothache, small cuts and other minor ailments."

Mike Gates, of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Misuse of the service means that our firefighting and rescue appliances can be sent out unnecessarily to investigate false alarms when they may be needed elsewhere."

FIVE WORST REASONS FOR DIALLING 999

There's a rusty lamp post outside my shop.

I had a missed call on my mobile phone and the number displayed was 999.

My cat's gone into labour.

This shop won't give a refund to me.

The sun's in my eyes - it could blind drivers and cause an accident.