Police reveal irritation over short-sighted calls

Police have reported an increase in the number of callers contacting the emergency 999 number with non-urgent matters.

In the last month, 999 calls to Devon and Cornwall Police have risen by 40 per cent at peak times – most of them non-urgent or in some cases reporting matters not dealt with by the police.

Inappropriate calls that have clogged emergency phone lines range from problems with utilities to complaints about noise.

Police call handlers, who are trained in dealing with emergencies, said one woman called to say she was standing outside Specsavers and could not find her glasses.

Another woman called 999 and asked the call handler if officers could come to her house and test her plug sockets to see if they were working correctly.

When the woman was challenged about calling the emergency number rather than an electrician, she said she had also called the fire service and they refused to help.

In one of several calls about noise, a man from the Helston area in Cornwall called 999 and stated it was not an emergency or a crime but more of an annoyance that his neighbour was playing his radio loudly. Devon and Cornwall Police said officers do not deal with noise complaints and councils deal with noise issues.

In another example, a woman called to say she had just got out of a taxi and had left her handbag in it. The woman wanted police to follow the vehicle and get her handbag back.