Seven foot yellow figures were dotted about Barking town centre as part of a campaign encouraging people to consider whether they could avoid using A&E.

Each model depicted a different injury or illness with information about NHS services other than A&E departments that are best placed to provide treatment.

The NHS campaign, called Not Always A&E, comes as recent figures show up to 40 per cent of people in the UK use the emergency service when they do not need to.

Ten per cent of people in Barking and Dagenham who phoned 999 for an ambulance between April 1 2012 to January 23 this year did not need to be taken to A&E, it was also revealed.