UK police fed up with time-wasting calls

A spider in your bin is not an emergency, Surrey Police say. Photo / Christine Cornege

Police in Surrey are fed up with time-wasting calls, saying they receive far too many about non-emergencies.

Surrey Police say they received calls including "Will I get arrested if I move my housemate's banana?", "Fancy a chat?" and "My shutters aren't working properly"- all in the same day.

Other 999 calls made to Surrey Police included "There's a spider in my bin", "My washing machine isn't working" and "My TV is broken and EastEnders is about to start."

Officers revealed the daft calls from members of the public as part of a campaign to highlight the issue of police time-wasting.

In one call, a distraught resident said: "I think someone has stolen my eggs. My chicken lays an egg every morning, but today there wasn't one there."

The force took to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag "policing matters" to raise awareness.

Surrey Police said it received 675,500 contacts from people every year - nearly 2,000 a day, making it important for people not to waste their time.

And last year they attended a staggering 10,270 incidents - on average 28 a day - which were not "policing matters" and should have been directed to other organisations.

Figures released by London Fire Brigade also show two people a day dial 999 after getting trapped in the toilet and needing rescue.

Data shows that they have attended 3,885 call outs to people stuck in their bathrooms since 2011.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson told the Daily Mail the vast majority of calls received were for non-emergencies.

"It's embarrassing getting locked inside a toilet but the vast majority of the call outs are not emergencies and we'd like to wash our hands of these incidents, freeing up more time for our crews to assist people in real need of assistance," the spokesperson said.

"We're asking people to think before they dial 999 and to spare a thought for those who do not have access to sanitation and toilets."

- Daily Mail