The Welsh Ambulance Service has urged people to use its service sensibly after receiving a 999 call from a member of the public who had eaten a raw chicken Kiev.

The service had nearly 20,000 calls over last two weeks with nearly one in five were frivolous including calls from someone who had eaten a raw chicken Kiev and someone with laundry detergent in their eye.

The service said in a statement it has also had other instances: “One person called 999 with a swollen finger, another called with earache, and another called because their tooth had fallen out.

“Sixteen hoax calls were also made in the same period, including from someone reporting a dog had been stabbed."

The calls have been particularly troublesome as demand has spiked in the last few days with breathing problems being the number one reason people called 999 on Tuesday as temperatures in the UK topped 40 degrees.

Calls to drownings and to people with heat exposure also increased dramatically.

Lee Brooks, the trust’s executive director of operations, said: “Our ambulance service exists to help people who are seriously ill or injured or where there is an immediate threat to their life, so time spent dealing with non-essential calls could be time spent helping someone in a life or death situation.

“People with earache and swollen fingers still have a clinical need, but calling 999 for that need is ill-judged when there are so many other ways to access more appropriate help.

“Hoax calls are a different story altogether because it’s someone who’s gone to deliberate lengths to waste our time, which is frankly appalling.”

Mr Brooks warned that while the temperature that “we’re not out of the woods just yet.”

“Despite the temperature drop, there remains a very real danger to our health, especially if you have a pre-existing condition, like asthma or angina.