In the last year, just 15% of all 999 calls to the Metropolitan Police have been for genuine emergencies, the force has said. Non-emergency calls included someone who had a spider in their room, another whose dog would not come back into their house, and others who have had no-show delivery drivers. The force said the calls, which totalled 1.87m between July 2024 and July 2025, took up valuable call handler time and stopped them from dealing with genuine emergencies.
"Imagine getting stuck talking to someone for eight minutes about a neighbor's dog barking, only to answer the next call late, because of that noise complaint, and hear the trembling voice of a five-year-old whose dad has just collapsed on the floor."