“999 should only be called when there is a real danger to life or if a crime is in progress.”
Police in West Yorkshire have reminded the public that 999 calls should only be made in emergencies, after a woman phoned asking the police to remove a spider from her home.
The force shared an audio recording of the phone call in which the woman explains that she’s calling the police as they are her “last hope”.
During the call, she says: “Hiya, you’re probably gonna go mad at me right but I’ve literally tried ringing everyone and you’re my last hope.
“I need someone to come and get this spider out of my house. It’s absolutely massive and I’m not even joking!”
To this, the phone operator responds saying: “Unfortunately the police wouldn’t be able to come and get a spider out of your house.”
Please don't ring 999 if there's a spider in your house.
This is just one example of an inappropriate call that we've had to our 999 emergency line.
On average, we receive 120 calls a day to our 999 line that are not a life or death emergency.
One is too many.@WYP_Contact pic.twitter.com/ykzwmRhvGR
— West Yorkshire Police (@WestYorksPolice) July 4, 2022
The West Yorkshire Police accompanied the audio with a warning to the public which reminds them to only call 999 if they are facing a genuine emergency.
The message at the end of the video reads: “Whilst we understand not everyone may appreciate an eight legged visitor, a call like this could prevent someone in a genuine emergency receiving the support they need.
“999 should only be called when there is a real danger to life or if a crime is in progress.”
They added: “Think before you call.”
The police force in West Yorkshire have said that they receive over 100 calls a day that are not emergencies.
“Please don’t ring 999 if there’s a spider in your house,” they wrote on Twitter.
“This is just one example of an inappropriate call that we’ve had to our 999 emergency line. On average we receive 120 calls a day to our 999 line that are not a life or death emergency. One is too many.”
