Lift home appeal and fridge delivery row among 999 calls

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38342859

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Complaints about a fridge delivery and a request for a lift home were among the ridiculous 999 calls made to the Met Police over the past year.

The force has revealed some of the worst calls it has had to its emergency number, including reports of a hissing cat following someone down the road.

It said the number of 999 calls it received had increased by 11% in the past year - an extra 216,000.

Christmas and the New Year is normally the busiest time of year for calls.

The Met said the 999 emergency number should only be used to contact police in situations when someone was in danger or when a crime was actually taking place.

It said the increase in calls was thought to be partly down to an "increasing population and the reduction of some out-of-hours services by other service providers".

'I got 999 problems but a fridge ain't one'

Some of the 999 calls released by the Met included:

Ch Supt Pippa Mills, who leads the Met's Command and Control Unit, said: "Although the majority of people who require police assistance use the numbers correctly, there are still too many calls to emergency lines where the 999 number is being used as an information service.

"In many cases a simple internet search would provide the answer to the question posed by the caller."