Emergency number 112 received a total of half a million calls during 2014, 7,200 of which were hoax calls.

This was announced by Police Commissioner Michael Cassar today during a news conference held to mark 112 day – celebrated across Europe – in Ordnance Street, Valletta.

He emphasised that hoax calls to 112 could potentially lead to lives being lost.

Mr Cassar also announced that alternatively, a text message can be sent to number 7977 0112 that would pop up on screens of the police control room. A good number of callers, 183,000, hung up within seconds.

On his part, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said that one should use the emergency line but not abuse. He also insisted that when calling 112, one must give the most essential of details to get the message across fast and not lose time on details which are not so important.

The police also issued a promotional video aimed at raising awareness on how to properly make use of emergency services.