This is the number of nuisance callers who have added to Sussex Police's 999 call handlers' pressures

Back in March, it was reported that 20 per cent of 999 calls received by the Force were from hoax callers, people with mental health issues and persistent vexatious complainants.

During a recent meeting with Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, chief constable Jo Shiner confirmed that the calls were still happening.

She said: “We currently have 60 persistent callers who are placing regular demands upon the control room by making 999 and 101 calls to us.”

Mrs Bourne’s office provided funding for a member of staff to look into people who make such calls, putting ‘a disproportionate and unnecessary demand on resources’.

It was a move chief constable Shiner said had seen some ‘amazing success’.

This included a Horsham pensioner being jailed for 39 months for making thousands of ‘continually abusive’ calls to emergency services.

The chief constable said a number of cases were still ongoing, criminal behaviour orders had been imposed on others, and further offences were waiting for a court date.

She told Mrs Bourne that further investment would ‘probably yield even better results’, adding: “But it is important to us that we understand those people who are calling us, why they’re calling us [and] trying to get them assistance – because about 80% of those callers do have mental health issues.”