Met Police reveals time-wasting 999 calls
The Metropolitan Police has released details of some of the more than 25,000 hoax 999 calls it received this year.
Among the calls received this year that were not an emergency was a woman that rang 999 to complain about being sent three saveloys from the chip shop instead of one.
The hoax calls also included a man asking for the time and another man complaining about a packet of biscuits being out of date.
Between 1 January and 30 November this year the Met received 2m emergency calls, out of which 25,448 were identified by call handlers as being hoax calls.
The police force warned Londoners to only call 999 in true emergencies, and to call 101 if they need the police in a non-emergency situation.
Met chief superintendent David Jackson said: “Although these calls can be perceived as amusing, they are actually a huge waste of the Met’s resources.
“These hoax calls block the number from other members of the public who could be calling 999 in a real emergency, keeping people in danger waiting for longer and putting lives at risk.
“If you are in a situation where you need to speak to the police, please thing: the use of the 999 system is for emergencies only and we have other channels where you can speak with us.”