The ridiculous 999 calls adding to an ambulance service under "extreme pressure"

An ambulance service under immense pressure amid the pandemic has shared some of the ridiculous reasons for call outs it received this weekend.

Over the past few days the Welsh Ambulance Service has dealt with 4,400 call outs, due to the "extreme pressure" of the pandemic and heatwave.

Of those, 22% were classified as 'green' - call outs for the least serious reasons, Wales Online reported.

That was a rise of 4% compared to the previous weekend.

Among them were pleas for help by people suffering from sunburn, being unable to go to the toilet and back pain from gardening.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said many of the calls were for issues which very often can be treated by self-care, a pharmacist or the Symptom Checker tools at NHS 111 Wales.

More than a fifth of call outs were classified as green (Getty Images)

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Lee Brooks, Director of Operations for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: “We are asking people to consider the alternatives to calling 999 if their situation is not a life threatening emergency – this will help us in assisting those most in need of our emergency ambulances.

“For non-urgent conditions it is vital people begin to use one of the many alternatives to 999, starting with the symptom checkers on our NHS 111 Wales website as well as their GP, pharmacist and Minor Injuries Unit.

“If your call is not for a life-threatening emergency but you feel you require hospital treatment then you may be asked to consider an alternative method of transportation such as any family, friends or neighbours who can drive you.”

The service said many of the issues could have been dealt with through self-care (Getty Images)

The service has previously released lists of some of the absurd call outs it has received.

In 2016 a man dialled 999 because he was worried he had eaten too much chocolate.

The overindulgent caller complained to an operator of feeling "sick" and requested an ambulance to check him over.

Other offenders included a woman who had the back of her earring stuck in her ear, a man who had poked himself in the eye with a pair of glasses and a woman who had been bitten by a dog a month ago.