Man calls police to report Tesco delivery van in his village

The caller claimed 'people in this village don't shop at Tesco'
Bloomberg
Martin Coulter11 October 2017

A concerned resident phoned the police after spotting a Tesco delivery van near his home, claiming "people in this village don't shop at Tesco".

The incident was cited as one of the many strange reports fielded by North Yorkshire police, who are working to reduce the number of time-wasting calls following an "unprecedented rise".

Chief Inspector Mike Walker said anyone who misused the number could be prosecuted.

Bizarre calls to police

1. "My neighbour is a reincarnated Buddhist."

2. "My friend has been taken to hospital. Can you pick her stuff up from her house?"

3. "My son was only sentenced to 18 months in prison but he's been there for nine years."

4. "A sparrow has just flown into my kitchen and killed itself."

5. "I've set off to go on holiday and I've forgotten to put my bins out. Can the police pop round and do it for me?"

6. "What time do the shops close?"

7. "Is 16.00 hours the same as four o'clock?"

8. "Someone's putting up a mast and they're not allowed." 

9. "My son is at my sister's but I don't talk to her. Will you pick my son up for me?"

​10. "Can you trace a withheld number?"

"Some of the calls we receive, both on 999 or 101, are not police matters," he said.

"The time spent on these calls should be spent helping members of the community who need us most.

"Time spent dealing with callers who are using the system inappropriately could mean a call handler is not free to deal with an emergency, potentially leading to a tragic outcome."

The county's force control room saw 999 calls almost double from 4,911 to 8,551 between January and August of this year. Calls to the non-emergency number 101 also rose from 21,045 to 24,017 in the same period.

Changes to the service include the introduction of an operator service and a new call-back facility on the non-emergency line.

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