‘Wrong saveloy and chips order’ among nuisance 999 calls

A mistake with a chip shop order and an out-of-date packet of biscuits were among more than 22,000 time-wasting calls to the Met Police this year.

The force said its call handlers had identified 22,491 calls to 999 in the first 11 months of 2019 that were not emergencies.

These included a woman complaining she had been sent three saveloy and chips from the chip shop instead of one.

Ch Supt David Jackson said nuisance calls were a “huge waste” of resources.

The Met has released audio of some 999 calls where the incident reported was not actually an emergency.

A man asking for the time and another man complaining about a packet of biscuits being out of date also feature in the clips.

There were also 2,912 nuisance calls to the 101 non-emergency police number.

“Not only did these calls waste police time and resources, they also potentially put Londoners at risk in what could be a life-or-death situation,” the force said in a statement.

Overall, the Met said it received more than 2.1 million calls between 1 January and 30 November this year.

Ch Supt Jackson added: “These hoax calls block the number from other members of the public who could be calling 999 in a real emergency, keeping people in danger waiting for longer and putting lives at risk.”