What constitutes an emergency ?

[Miss Demeanour]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2009/dec/29/unnecessary-999-calls


Two hours of a cat playing with a piece of string probably does not warrant a call to emergency services.

The force has released an audio recording of the call to remind people the 999 emergency service should not be abused.

In the audio clip the woman, who has not been named, explained she had reached breaking point after a torrid two hours of relentless string play. "It's doing me head in," she said, in a voice that appears to be slurred.

http://m.gmgrd.co.uk/res/966.$plit/C_71_audio_1002891_clip_list_clip_list_item_0_clip_file.wma

Greater Manchester police said it received almost 1.4m calls between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, only a fraction of which were genuine emergencies.

The people of Greater Manchester are not the only 999 offenders. Cambridgeshire police have fielded calls from "a woman with a plummy accent" who was distressed that she couldn't find Homebase and another who wanted Tony Blair's number so she could tell him he was "her sort of chap".

Avon and Somerset's website has a whole section dedicated to inappropriate 999 calls, including a woman concerned about a squirrel with no hazelnut trees and another caller who wanted to know "what year the internet first came out."

Now if the Government need a few extra pennies in their piggy banks - fine these tossers for wasting time 

[Barman]

Wot she said! Again... 

[Nick]

"Help, there is a goat drowning in my pool. Send the coastguard." 

[Barman]

"Help, there is a goat drowning in my pool. Send the coastguard." 

Do you actually have a pool...? 

[Grumpmeister]

To be honest, when I first heard the recording my reaction was that Nick had a surprisingly feminine voice and Manchester accent.