Spare a thought for police call handlers this new year

Staff were inundated with nuisance calls last year, including someone asking for a life to Pontefract as there were no buses.

One woman — described as “hysterical” — dialled 999 after a taxi driver asked for fare payment up front.

Another caller rang from a loud house party, claiming he was Frank Gallagher from the TV show Shameless.

One man called at 3am on New Year’s Day asking if officers could drive his drunken girlfriend back to Derby.

Head of force communications Tracy Potter said: “We plan resources in advance in order to manage the high number of calls and incidents, which we expect.

“When people call 999 or 101 for non-police incidents it wastes valuable time and means people with genuine calls have to wait longer to get through to us.

“We are here to help everybody, but please think before you call us. We have a job to do and don’t want to stop genuine incidents from coming through.”