Force gets tough on 999 callers

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A 999 call to police reporting pole dancing in a neighbouring house is among the nuisance calls received by emergency control rooms.

Cambridgeshire Police posted on their website examples of nuisance calls made to the emergency number to try and stop people wasting operators' time.

They include a woman who wanted to know the date and another person who called 999 when they could not find Homebase.

Police said 999 should be called when life or property is in imminent danger.

'Get stricter'

One caller to the 999 number asked whether there was a barber's shop open in Cambridge, while another called to speak to the prime minister.

Ch Insp Mike Winters said: "We wouldn't just simply put the phone down without engaging in conversation.

"We have to explore the reasons for the call to make an assessment about how genuine it is.

"However we will have to get stricter in pointing out that people should be ringing the non-emergency number in the majority of occasions, not 999."

"The message is - don't put lives at risk by calling 999 when you do not need an emergency police response."

The non-emergency number is 0845 456 456 4.