The region’s ambulance service has released a recording of an “unacceptable” call made to its control centre to remind people to only phone 999 in a real emergency.

The woman on the line can be heard requesting assistance from the police because she has been stuck in traffic for an hour and needs to catch a flight.

In 2015/2016, the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) dealt with 1,037,119 calls.

A spokesman for EEAST said: “We have released this call to remind the public that 999 is for emergencies and this type of call to the emergency ambulance service is unacceptable. Whilst this call was less than a minute long, someone with a genuine life-threatening emergency could have been trying to get help in that time.

“At a time when the emergency ambulance service is very busy, it is more important than ever to ensure that people use 999 wisely.”