Monday, 5 January 2009

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OMG! Linda Lusardi calls 999 to get to panto on time

Actress defends her decision to phone police

Linda Lusardi was a Page 3 girl

Linda Lusardi has been criticised by the emergency services for calling 999 when she was running late for a panto performance.

The former topless model, who is playing the Wicked Queen at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe, phoned police when she was stuck in a traffic jam.

Linda asked if she could use the hard shoulder on the M25 to skip the queues.

‘The request was denied,’ says a spokesman for Hertfordshire Police.

'Being late for work is not a reason to call 999 or use emergency measures.

'This was absolutely not appropriate use of the emergency number or of police time.'

But Linda, 50, has defended her actions.

'I phoned 999 because I was brought up to believe that was the number to call if you needed police assistance,’ she tells the Daily Mail.

'The call wasn't because I was going to be late, it was because the matinee would have been cancelled. I didn't want to disappoint a thousand people who had come to see the show.'

The performance eventually went ahead 35 minutes later than scheduled.