A man called 999 to report a dead pigeon on the pavement, Thames Valley Police said.

It came amid warnings from the force to only call the ‘life or death emergency line’ if a ‘life is threatened or a crime is happening’.

In an audio recording of the call, which was released on social media, the male caller could be heard telling the operator: “Hi, erm, there is a um a dead pigeon on the side of the road. Er, on the pavement.”

The 999 call handler interrupted the man, saying: “Sorry, you’ve called this through on a 999 life or death emergency line.”

He added in clipped tones: “In the case of a dead pigeon you’d want to speak to the council anyway so someone can remove it.”

Responding to the video online, one person said of the caller: “It’s scary these sort of people are around.”

Thames Valley Police said the festive period was always a ‘particularly busy’ time for its 999 and 101 call handlers.

The force urged people to think before dialing the emergency number and only call 999 if someone’s life was at risk or if a crime was happening or had just taken place.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward