EAST Lancashire residents are being urged to only dial 999 in a genuine emergency to avoid wasting valuable police time.

The warning comes after a Blackburn man was convicted for making nuisance 999 calls to police.

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The Lancashire Telegraph previously reported Mohammed Ismail, 27 of Heaton Street, Blackburn,appeared at Blackburn Magistrates Court on June 13.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of persistently making use of the public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety and three counts of wasteful employment of the police.

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He was given a 12 week prison sentence which was suspended for 12 months. This means if he is convicted of another offence within the next 12 months, his original sentence will apply.

Ismail repeatedly contacted police, between May 26 and 28, to make false reports of people fighting and using knives outside The Salvation Army in Blackburn.

An investigation by Blackburn’s Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team revealed that a large number of the calls he had made had been fabricated putting both the police officers and members of the public at risk.

Blackburn Sergeant Nick Everett said: “It is very concerning when people make hoax calls to the emergency services.”

“Emergency calls necessitate a quicker response and although officers are trained to respond with appropriate caution, it does put the officers and indeed members of the public at an unnecessary risk, as the call is in fact a hoax.”

Police ask that only in a genuine emergency call 999. The number for non-emergencies is 101is the correct number to call.