Nottinghamshire Police Warn Not To Abuse 999 Service

1 January 2019, 10:24 | Updated: 1 January 2019, 10:30

LISTEN: 999 call from a Nottinghamshire woman treating police as a taxi service

As police forces across the East Midlands have been dealing with one of the busiest 24 hours of the year, Nottinghamshire are reminding people not to abuse the emergency 999 line.

They have released a call from a woman treating the police force like a taxi.

Chief Inspector Neil Williams, from Nottinghamshire Police’s Contact Management department, said: “The vast majority of the public understand that 999 is only to be used in genuine emergencies but we do still receive a number of misplaced calls to our 999 emergency number.

“While some of the misplaced calls we receive range from honest errors of judgement to the more unusual, there is a serious point to be made here as every misplaced call our emergency call handlers receive has the potential to delay them from responding to genuine emergencies.

“The New Year period – and particularly New Year’s Eve – is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for us, as people are out enjoying themselves and seeing in the New Year with their friends and families.

“We’re simply asking the public to help us to be there for when people genuinely do need our help the most, which they can do by looking after themselves and those closest to them – and making a plan for each other get home safely, wherever it is you are celebrating.”