…Researched and contributed by Solomon Thomas.
A woman from Paston in north Peterborough made a 999 call to complain that her bins had not been emptied for two weeks.
Cambridgeshire Police released the audio recording of the exchange with the 999 handler, which showed the caller fuming over the neglect of her dustbin.
However, the bemused operator informed her that her complaint was not an emergency and that the police were not responsible for the removal of waste bins.
He advised the caller to contact Peterborough City Council instead.
The operator then ended the call, saying that the 999 line should not be blocked by non-emergency calls.
The police released the audio to demonstrate how the time of the emergency services can be wasted with non-emergency calls.
According to the police, 80% of 999 calls are not police emergencies, and they urge the public to “think before you call.”
The police emphasised that the Paston woman’s call was a genuine 999 call, and it was released along with a video that featured other bizarre 999 calls.
This incident of a woman ringing the emergency number to complain about her bin is part of a list of other baffling calls that 999 operators have received over the years.
The Metropolitan Police, in 2015, released a list of their most bizarre nuisance calls from that year, such as a woman who called to report that she had brought a cold kebab that the shop would not replace.
Another caller wanted to know the best place to get a bacon sandwich at 4 am on a Saturday, while another complained that a clown selling balloons for £5 was charging more than his rivals.
Other peculiar calls included a man who called 999 to say he had 50p stuck in a washing machine, a person who did not know the number for 111, and a panicked holidaymaker who asked for a police escort to take them to the airport after sleeping through their alarm.
One woman wanted officers to deal with noisy foxes outside her home that were preventing her from sleeping, while another called the police because she thought officers arresting her were taking her away.
The Metropolitan Police warned that these types of calls could delay the response to genuine emergencies, and callers should think sensibly before phoning 999 to try to limit time-wasting calls.