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World of the Bizarre

UK police reveal most ridiculous 999 calls

By T.K. Randall
January 19, 2016 · Comment icon 16 comments

The police have been plagued by inappropriate calls. Image Credit: sxc.hu
Authorities in Britain have revealed some of the strangest 999 calls received over the last few years.
In one case the police received a phone call from a woman who believed that a large poisonous spider had been hiding inside a furniture packing crate that was delivered to her house.

When officers arrived to investigate however they discovered that the 'spider', which she claimed had trapped her inside her kitchen, was in fact a small piece of fluff underneath the door.

The incident is just one of several revealed by the Wiltshire police over the last week as part of a campaign designed to highlight the issue of wasting police time with inappropriate 999 calls.
"I once took a call from a man who was lost in some woods," said senior operator Dominic Taylor. "He was on his way home from a night out and was scared that a badger was going to attack him."

One case involved a woman who called the police to ask for help cleaning her toilet while another saw a rollerblader ask for a lift because she had reached a hill that was too steep to go up.

"The campaign aims to educate the public about the appropriate use of the 101 and 999 numbers, reduce demand on the crime and communication center and highlight the excellent work of our call handlers who are often under extremely difficult circumstances," said a police spokesman.

Source: BT.com | Comments (16)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #7 Posted by tcgram 8 years ago
I also remember reading about a guy who called 911 and asked if they were hiring.
Comment icon #8 Posted by Nnicolette 8 years ago
Call me superstitious but I find it more uncanny that the police number there is 999.
Comment icon #9 Posted by Nnicolette 8 years ago
I like this one from late last year: Did you hear about the police officer who did this after cooking with the weed he confiscated? He and his wife called 911 because they thought they were going to die.
Comment icon #10 Posted by Imaginarynumber1 8 years ago
Did you hear about the police officer who did this after cooking with the weed he confiscated? He and his wife called 911 because they thought they were going to die. That 911 call was great.
Comment icon #11 Posted by Imaginarynumber1 8 years ago
Eulalia! No...Orlando the axe!!!
Comment icon #12 Posted by Peter B 8 years ago
Call me superstitious but I find it more uncanny that the police number there is 999. Why? Do you stand on your head to call? :-)
Comment icon #13 Posted by Peter B 8 years ago
Personally I find it hard to beat this one: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1381210/Police-sent-on-999-call-after-man-mistakes-moon-for-bright-stationary-object-in-sky.html Control room: "South Wales Police, what's your emergency?"Caller: "It's not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object." Control: "Right." Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there." Control: "It's been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or... [More]
Comment icon #14 Posted by Calibeliever 8 years ago
I look forward to these every year
Comment icon #15 Posted by Nnicolette 8 years ago
Why? Do you stand on your head to call? :-) No. You wont catch me calling the police they are generally not interested in helping people only making more problems. Plus I'm in hawaii not uk. aloha
Comment icon #16 Posted by Peter B 8 years ago
No. You wont catch me calling the police they are generally not interested in helping people only making more problems. Plus I'm in hawaii not uk. aloha Um, okay? I was asking why you found the number 999 itself worthy of comment. I guessed it was because 999 is 666 upside down and many people are superstitious about that number.


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