Cambridgeshire Police have received 181 hoax or inappropriate calls since the start of 2024.
Some of the calls made to the control room include:
- A child stating that their cat is up a tree
- A man requested a taxi home
- A woman who didn't want to wait on 101, so called 999 instead
- A woman stating that she felt extremely unwell
- A woman requesting her house locks be changed
- A man whose TV had stopped working
In a post on Facebook, a spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "With so many people across the county calling us for genuine reasons, our call handlers cannot afford to be tied up dealing with calls like these.
"Please help us to help you, by only calling 999 in serious emergencies (that's if you aren't safe and need help immediately).
"For everything else, you can report non-urgent crime to us online."
Anyone who needs to report a non-urgent crime can click here.
For guides on when to call 999 and when to call 101, you can click here.
Recommended Reading: Police arrest children as young as 13 for dealing drugs
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