999? HELP GET ME TO THE PANTO ON TIME; Cops' fury at star Lusardi.

Byline: BY MARTIN FRICKER

TV star Linda Lusardi was branded "ridiculous" by cops - after calling 999 because she was late for panto.

The former topless model, 50, was stuck in M25 traffic and wanted special permission to use the hard shoulder. But 999 staff told Linda, playing the wicked Queen in Snow White, she was being Dopey.

A police source revealed: "She was told she would have to wait, just like the hundreds of other motorists stuck in the slow moving traffic. There was no way we were going to turn a blind eye to her using the hard shoulder just to get to work on time.

"She may be a star but she is not above the law."

A police spokeswoman called the mum of two "ridiculous" and added: "It's an emergency number.

The situation that Ms Lusardi found herself in was far from an emergency."

The former Emmerdale actress - with husband Sam Kane, 40, and daughter Lucy, 12 - was half an hour late for Saturday's matinee at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe, Bucks.

A theatre source said: "It started late but the cast joked about it."

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