Firefighters called to warm baby's milk and rescue people stuck in toilet

A fire brigade is launching a campaign aimed at hoax callers and time wasters after a spate of bizarre 999 calls.

London Fire Brigade said it has received over 8,600 hoax calls in the last five years, 187,000 false alarms, 2,800 animal rescues and 1,500 people stuck in objects such as chairs - and toilet seats.

Other incidents highlighted by the brigade include a woman who asked firefighters to warm her baby's milk, and a man who had rings stuck on his penis.

The brigade's director of operations, Dave Brown, said: "You wouldn't believe some of the incidents crews are called out to.

"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."

The brigade will be tweeting from its account @LondonFire about some of the time-wasting and non-emergency calls it has received in a bid to drive down such incidents.