SOMERSET NEWS: Police get some strange calls for help

OPERATORS at the Avon and Somerset Police call centre do get some unusual requests for help.

Only recently there was widespread publicity about the centre receiving a call from someone saying they had been chased by a badger near Yeovil.

But that ridiculous call for help has not stopped others from contacting the police with other enquiries and issues which could be classed as time-wasting.

The non-emergency 101 line received a call today (Saturday, August 22, 2015) about somebody finding a tortoise and asking for advice.

But worrying is the amount of calls on the emergency 999 line from people with issues which are NOT emergencies.

The call centre received complaints about people smoking cigarettes in an outside communal area of a block of flats.

One caller, meanwhile, was not happy as he was unable to buy a can of drink in a shop, while somebody also called 999 to report a lost coat.

Another bizarre call received today by police was from a female stating she was on a bus and a “girl looked at her.”

While a 999 call this morning was from a male who had got a taxi home after a night out, but did not want to wake his parents up for some money to pay the driver so was asking the police for help.

Another man admitted he had got bored of waiting on the 101 non-emergency call queue so he instead dialled 999 twice instead.

Police would like to remind people that they receive a high volume of calls and that they would ask them to consider whether their enquiry or request for help is entirely necessary.

They have also said that people can “avoid the queue” by reporting online via the police’s website at www.avonandsomerset.police.uk .

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