Hear the weirdest 999 calls made to Hampshire police

Some other notable calls which the force have dealt with recently include at 9.38pm on 24 June, when someone called to say they had found a wallet, and on 30 April at 11.22am, when a concerned resident rang 999 to report a 'little Bambi' looking deer running through their estate.

Perhaps most audaciously of all, a person due to appear in court called 999 on 15 June asking to be woken up at 9.30am the following morning and to be escorted to court by police.

READ MORE: 999 calls stopped working in Hampshire this morning

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Superintendent Anna Skelton shed light on how such non-emergency calls are diverting precious time and resources away from those who genuinely need urgent help.

Sitting inside police headquarters in Netley, Supt. Skelton said: "Our team across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is absolutely dedicated, professional, and skilled in what they do. Every day is a different day; we never know what the day will bring us. 

"We deal with a range of different matters, whether emergency or non-emergency and our staff are trained and equipped to deal with those."A Hampshire and Isle of Wight call handler (Image: Shivalika Puri)

Every day, call handlers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight take over a thousand calls.

Officers conducted an extensive analysis during a ten-hour period spanning from Saturday night to early Sunday morning to assess the severity of the situation.

During the timeframe from 5pm on Saturday, 10 June to 4am on Sunday, 11 June, a total of 714 calls were received through the 999 emergency number.

Out of these calls, only 349 (49 per cent) were genuine emergencies that needed immediate attention.

Of the remaining 365 calls, 44 were made in error, 171  were general inquiries or updates to existing reports and 150 calls should have been reported online or via 101.

On this, Supt. Skelton said: "Seeing that 50 per cent of our calls are not genuine emergencies distracts the call handler's ability to service people that may be in immediate crises, experiencing a crime in progress, seeing suspicious activity, or where someone's life may have been at risk." 

Adding to their challenges, call handlers have been targeted by abusive nuisance callers and received prank calls. Calls handlers have been targeted by prank calls and abusive nuisance callers (Image: Calls handlers have been targeted by prank calls and abusive nuisance callers)

While expressing her disappointment, Supt. Skelton said: "It's frustrating for us when we're trying to provide the public with the best possible service that we can. But we receive phone calls with very malicious intent or with intent just to abuse our call handlers.

"A recent example was someone calling to say that their pizza hadn't been delivered.

"We'll deal with those calls very robustly to people that perhaps think it's funny. 

The force has now issued a plea to the public, urging them to think before they dial and only use 999 in an emergency. 

Supt. Skelton added: "Help us keep 999 lines clear for your emergencies. Only call 999 if there is a danger to life, a crime is happening at that time or has just happened, you have immediate concerns for your safety, or you see something suspicious that needs immediate attention.

"In all other situations, there are other ways to contact us either online, via 101, or at one of our stations (station opening hours can be found on our website)."