A man with rings stuck on his penis and a kitten with its head trapped in a bongo drum are among a host of bizarre incidents to be highlighted by London Fire Brigade as part of their new Christmas campaign.
As part of the new campaign, London Fire Brigade will tweet about some of the time-wasting and non-emergency calls it has received in a bid to drive down incidents in the capital.
All of the incidents will follow a festive theme and will feature the hashtag #12DaysXmas.
The Fire Brigade said they hope to reach millions of Twitter users, urging them to only dial 999 in a genuine emergency.
The incidents reportedly include a man with rings stuck on his penis (five gold rings), a goose trapped on a roof (six geese a laying), and a woman wanting firefighters to warm up her baby's milk (eight maids a milking).
'You wouldn't believe some of the incidents'
Recent statistics from LFB show that in the last five years (2010-2014), there have been:
- 8,600 hoax calls
- 1,543 instances of people stuck or trapped in everyday objects such as toilet seats, instruments and furniture
- 2,868 animal rescues – the Brigade urges the public to always call the RSPCA if an animal is trapped
- 187,335 false alarms resulting from automatic fire alarms
London Fire Brigade Director of Operations, Dave Brown, said: “It's a bit of festive fun, but the message is serious – don’t call 999 unless it's a genuine emergency.
"You wouldn't believe some of the incidents crews are called out to, including a woman who asked if firefighters could warm her baby’s milk up and several people with rings stuck on their genitals.
"We are also keen to reduce the number of animals firefighters are called to rescue and want people to call the RSPCA if they see an animal stuck, not 999.
"We are regularly called to deal with a lot of incidents which could be avoided. We want everyone to have a good Christmas, but remember that silly pranks and time wasting calls cost us time, money and resources."
