Nottinghamshire Police: 'Only dial 999 in a real emergency'

Nottinghamshire Police have urged people to only dial 999 if there is a real emergency after being swamped by hundreds of unnecessary calls in recent days.

Over the last weekend alone, callers to Nottinghamshire Police have included someone complaining about an Amazon delivery driver opening the door to deliver parcels while another caller thought it was ok to ring 999 asking for advice about fence heights.

A further person wanted a police witness to sign some documents so they could get a job in Germany, and another wanted Covid advice about gathering outdoors.

Meanwhile a caller thought it was fine to ring 999 to alert the force that two ducks had been found while in another astonishing incident a caller put the emergency operator on hold while they took another call.

A caller also rang to say sorry on 999 for mistakenly ringing 999 a few minutes earlier.

The force says it has faced a huge surge in calls to both 999 and the 101 non-emergency number.

In the last month alone 999 calls have shot up from an average of 3,900 per week in May to 4,950 in June. However, it said that 60 per cent of the 999 calls were in fact non-emergency and did not require the urgent attention of officers.

Police believe a combination of the hot weather and lock down restrictions easing, meaning more people are out and about, could be a reason for people not thinking before ringing 999.

Now they are urging people to think twice before picking up the phone, otherwise real emergency calls may not be able to get through putting lives in danger.

Superintendent Suk Verma, Head of Contact Management, said: "There is a huge spike in these calls nationally not just here in Nottinghamshire. We think this is a result of the hot weather, the football championships and more people being out and about as a result of the restrictions recently easing.

"We often see a spike when the weather is better but not on a scale like this. We are seeing this spike repeatedly night after night and now and it has got to stop. We cannot have people's lives put in danger because people are ringing for ridiculous reasons.

"I would urge people to really think twice before calling us. If it is an emergency and life is in danger or a crime is in progress then please ring 999 immediately. If it is a non-emergency but still requires police assistance then please ring 101 or visit our website to report the incident.

"Last weekend, the force call handlers received 1,600 emergency calls via the 999 number, with a high percentage of these calls not being an emergency.

"Our operators were kept minutes on the phone for non-emergency calls and this isn't acceptable. Seconds and minutes are precious in emergency situations and can mean the difference between life and death for those that really need our support.

"But I cannot stress enough we do not want people contacting us for issues we are not here to deal with. You have a responsibility as a citizen to not do this."

In the space of just three hours on Tuesday evening the force took 600 emergency and non-emergency calls.

Supt Verma added: "We need all our lines available to deal with emergency calls. We do still want people to call the police as we are here to protect the public but do it for the right reasons is our ask of you.

"We will have increased visible patrols to help members of the public connect with our officers and staff if they require help and advice."

To report a crime on line people can click here or alternatively they can log onto the force website.