Police Call: We're not here to help with spiders

In addition officers are routinely called upon to deal with non-urgent incidents which are not as serious but nonetheless impactful for the people who call.

Most people contact the police appropriately but there are a small percentage who do not. Of the half a million calls that were made to 999 last year requesting the police some of them are entirely inappropriate and waste officer and staff time.

For example, a man calling to say he had been given a ‘dirty look’ by his neighbour, a woman reporting a large spider in her house and asking for police help, a man asking what to do if his car tyres were under-inflated and bizarrely a woman asking police to check her height.

Although these calls may seem amusing, they are taking a member of staff away from what could be an important 999 call. So this week the Force has launched an awareness campaign to remind people of the 101 and 999 contact numbers.

101 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Only in an emergency should you call 999; if it’s not then dial 101.