Dreamy

LONDON (Reuters) - Police have warned Heather Mills McCartney, the estranged wife of former Beatle Paul, about using the emergency phone number 999 too often.

The 39-year-old, in the middle of a bitter divorce battle with
Paul McCartney that has thrust her into the media spotlight, has complained of harassment by paparazzi since the split was announced 10 months ago.

Chief Superintendent Kevin Moore, of Brighton and Hove Police on the south coast where Mills spends much of her time, said there was a risk that officers may take her calls less seriously if she contacted them too often.

"We are having to spend a disproportionate amount of time on one particular person," he said in reported remarks that were confirmed by a spokeswoman for the force.

"We are duty-bound to respond, but clearly people who make lots of calls to the police run the risk of being treated as the little boy who cried wolf," he added.

"Officers who have attended previously to find there have been no grounds might not take any claims seriously, and that's the danger we face."

The spokeswoman did not say how many emergency calls Mills made to police, but said some had not warranted any action. She added that police advised Mills over dialing the '999' number and suggested that she keep a log of any press harassment.

Mills' spokesman was not immediately available for comment, but her sister Fiona said in a statement in January that police had warned Mills of a "serious risk" to her life and that Mills and her daughter Beatrice had received death threats.

Mills has given a series of interviews in recent days to publicize her participation in a U.S. television show and her work for animal charities.

She has used the platform to attack the British media. Tabloid newspapers have portrayed her as a gold-digger seeking to cash in on McCartney's fortune, which is estimated to be worth around 825 million pounds ($1.6 billion).

Mills told Reuters this week that her negative image in the press was harming the charities she represented, which include promoting animal welfare and banning landmines.