A MAN who wanted to get a lift home as the buses and trains had stopped running is among the latest batch of stupid 999 callers revealed by Thames Valley Police.

Also on the latest round-up is a woman advising police that her parcels were being delivered to the wrong address and a man telling officers that he had found his dog.

In the past week alone, the force has said that an extraordinary 80 per cent of 999 calls it recieved did not need an immediate police response.

Oxford Mail:

With the scorching hot weather partly to blame, police have said they are experiencing unusually high demand for their 101 and 999 services.

In particular, Thames Valley Police said it had seen 'significant' increases in 999 calls - an increase in demand which has also been experienced nationally.

The force has said unnecessary calls are putting lives at risk by taking up the phone lines and pleaded with people to think more carefully before calling 999.

To highlight the problem the force has released its latest list of inappropriate calls to 999 in the Thames Valley:

  • a man who acknowledged during the call that it was not an emergency but wanted to inform police that he had found his dog
  • a woman who wanted officers to collect a handbag she had found
  • a restaurant owner complaining that a van was blocking access to her restaurant
  • a man who wanted a lift home as the bus and rail services had finished for the night
  • a man who had locked himself out of his own house
  • a woman who was complaining that her parcels were being delivered to the wrong address

Oxford Mail:

Chief Superintendent Christian Bunt said: "We really need the public to take notice and think to themselves is my call an emergency and is my call appropriate for the police?

"We normally expect a seasonal increase at this time of year but the extended period of extremely hot weather, has put additional pressure on our call handling service.

“By calling us for non-police matters such as abandoned vehicles, which should reported to either the local authority or DVLA (check) and noise complaints, which should be reported to environmental health, people are further reducing our ability to answer calls that do require a police response."

IN NUMBERS: Calls to Thames Valley Police

Calls to 999

In the past week only 20 per cent of calls to 999 required an immediate attendance by a Thames Valley Police officer.

In the past three months we have seen a 27 per cent increase to our 999 service compared with the previous three months.

From 25 July 2017 to 24 July 2018 we received 309,000 calls to 999.

Calls to 101

Over 1.2million calls a year

We have seen a 13 per cent increase in calls to 101 in the past three months compared to the previous three months

52 per cent of calls to 101 do not result in an incident or a crime being logged.

Abandoned vehicles

Last year we received 8,000 calls about abandoned vehicles –each call took 7 minutes. This equates to over 930 hours to our call centres which could have stopped someone reporting a crime.

For abandoned vehicles the public should contact the local council or can report it online at the government website https://www.gov.uk/report-abandoned-vehicle

Broken Down Vehicles

8000 reports in 2017 taking approximately 7 minutes per call- over 930 hours to our call centres which could have stopped someone reporting a crime.

46% of these were not in a dangerous position and did not require police attendance. Please call a breakdown service or Highways England to report this.

Noise nuisance: Last year we received 4,500 calls about noise nuisance. This equates to 600 hours of call time which could have stopped someone reporting a crime.

This is not a police matter and the public should call the council environmental health