Police threat to arrest nuisance 999 callers

Police are threatening to arrest 999 callers who abuse the system.

Scotland Yard said today it was taking drastic action because of the huge increase in the number of people who misuse the emergency number.

More than 70,000 "inappropriate" calls were made last year. But in January this year, 10,000 were made, which could take 2007's figure to as high as 120,000.

Police are now referring persistent offenders to BT and mobile phone operators to get them disconnected. At least one caller has been arrested and is being prosecuted for wasting police time following the launch of the initiative. On average 180,000 calls are made to London's emergency services every month. About 6,000 - one in 30 - of these are "inappropriate".

Police said some persistent callers are malicious or drunk while others thought "they were having a laugh" by dialling 999.

Others reported serious crimes which turned out to be fake once officers arrived at the scene. Many of the callers are school children.

The Met has now established a special intelligence unit to track repeat offenders - which make up about 70 per cent of "misuse calls".

Commander Simon Foy, the head of the Met's Central Communications Command, said: "These calls can block up telephone lines and delay callers with a genuine emergency.

"Our main priority is to allow genuine callers to get through, and get through more quickly."

He said now when a caller is identified as a persistent abuser of the system, the registered phone owner will get a warning letter. If the calls continue police will notify the relevant service provider. The offender will face being arrested or having their telephone line disconnected.

In recent months police have asked for more than 120 people to be cut off.