Can I have the details of the good looking officer? There is a fox licking my loo! These are just two of many inappropriate calls to 999 in recent months.
With police receiving over 300,000 calls to their communications centre since April this year, they are reminding the public that inappropriate or hoax calls are not acceptable.
Here are just a selection of the strange calls received
Reminiscing about 999 misuse - Andy took a call from a female who had spotted a good looking officer and wanted his contact details!
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 13, 2015
Male called to ask if there was any chance of a 'freebie' as he needs a lift tomorrow and can't afford a taxi. Directed to the bus - Amy
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 13, 2015
Reminiscing about 999 misuse - Andy took a call from a female who had spotted a good looking officer and wanted his contact details!
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 13, 2015
We are receiving several hoax 999 calls from phonebox's this evening. We are extremely busy and this is taking up valuable time #999misuse
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 13, 2015
Switchboard staff just received a call from someone enquiring about their application to Avon.. the cosmetics company #notoneforus - Amy
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 12, 2015
Male called to ask if there was any chance of a 'freebie' as he needs a lift tomorrow and can't afford a taxi. Directed to the bus - Amy
— ASPCallCentre (@ASPCallCentre) August 13, 2015
A spokesman said: "Call handlers based at police HQ provide 24/7 telephone support, 365 days a year, and help save lives.
"But demand on our Communications Centre is increasing, and one problem we face is inappropriate or hoax calls.
"Misuse of the system can result in longer wait times on our 101 line for everyone, and even the possibility of a genuine 999 call being blocked from reaching us.
"Remember, when calling 999 the first thing we ask is "what’s your emergency" – please make sure there is one."
To raise awareness, police have launched a new Twitter account @ASPCallCentre to help give guidance on the correct use of 101 and 999 and highlight times of peak demand.
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