A YOUNG boy who had not yet learned to speak properly managed to make a 999 call when he saw his mother collapse on the floor.

Oliver Embleton, then aged two, told the emergency services operator 'mummy fell down'.

Nicola Embleton, 34, had taught her daughter Lillia, four, how to make an emergency call when she thought she was old enough to understand, but had no idea that little Oliver was also taking in the information.

Mrs Embleton, who lives with her husband, Andrew, 36, a courier, said: "Oliver's speech wasn't very good and at the time, he could hardly string a sentence together and was really quite difficult to understand."

She had been running up and down the stairs with washing when she became light-headed and fainted.

"I remember coming round and seeing Oliver on the phone chatting away," she said.

"Then I heard someone on the other end saying that the police were on their way."

When the police and paramedics arrived to treat Mrs Embleton, of Peterlee, County Durham, they gave her the all clear and put the fainting down to low blood pressure which she had suffered from since she was a teenager.

"It must have been very scary for him but he somehow knew what to do," she said.

"He told the operator 'mummy fell down' and they used tracking equipment to trace the call."

Durham Constabulary call handler Michael Walton has since picked up an award for the way he dealt with the call from Oliver.

A force spokesperson said: "Michael answered a 999 call to hear mumbling and gurgling on the other end that made little sense.

"Michael persevered with the call and tried to engage with the caller, who he realised was a very young child.

"The child appeared to be saying ‘fall down’. Michael swiftly established the address from the landline and immediately sent officers to the house."