Police hit out at 999 timewasters as man demands lift from officers after missing bus

Another man repeatedly called 999 for pizza

Police forces have stressed that the number should only be called in genuine emergencies (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A police force has revealed some of its most ludicrous requests from members of the public calling 999 in non-emegency situations.

Essex Police criticised the callers who have abused the service, saying that dealing with such calls results in delays in responding to people in genuine need of help.

Some of the time-wasters it heard from in the past six months include a man who contacted officers to ask for a lift home after missing his bus.

Another man called to complain about being ejected from a pub. He then “repeatedly” called 999 and kept asking for pizza before hanging up.

The force said: “The only thing he got delivered to his door were two of our officers who had some stern words of advice.”

A driver on the M11 called 999 to ask for a police escort because they were late home for dinner and, in a separate call, a girl asked for help because she couldn’t find her way out of some stinging nettles.

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Essex Police said it had dealt more than 3,000 emergency calls.

Control room head Chief Inspector Ian Gennery said the vast majority of those were from people facing a genuine emergency, and that his team will never disconnect a call without offering advice.

But there are a worrying amount of calls that are not emergencies, he said, and asked people to consider if their situation warranted an urgent police response.

He said: “Do we really need to be directing officers and resources away from a domestic incident or a serious collision to come and help you?

“If it doesn’t, there are a lot of other methods you can use, and there are lots of resources to look at on our website. You can use the 101 system to speak to someone over the phone, the live chat function on our website, or submit an online report.

“But if you do need police urgently, and you’re in trouble and need help, call 999.”

Lauren Simmons has answered 999 calls for Essex Police for three years.

She said: “I also had someone call me because they couldn’t get their boyfriend home because he was too drunk. When I politely said that unfortunately this wasn’t something the police could help with, I was verbally abused.

“No matter what their reasoning may be, everyone knows that you don’t call 999 for a taxi or a pizza. It’s common sense.”

Other police forces in recent weeks have warned against people making time-wasting calls.

Last week, a man called police for help on the non-emergency 101 number after his daughter got stuck in her new coat – Vanessa Jardine, Deputy Chief Constable for West Midlands Police – said.

An aspiring police officer rang 999 to check on the progress of his application to join North Wales Police, it was also revealed last week.

On another occasion a women asked for police assistance to move her sofa which had become jammed in her hallway after she tried to shift it from her lounge to another room – a call that North Wales Police control room manager Paul Shea described as “silly”.

Mr Shea added: “Another call that sticks in the memory was the one from the lady with the spider on the bed. She was scared and wanted a police officer to come to move the spider.”