‘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A mistake with a chip shop order and an out-of-date packet of biscuits were among more than 22,000 time-wasting calls to the Met Police this year.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 hoax 999 calls in the first 11 months of 2019.

These included a woman complaining that 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A man asking for the time and another man complaining about a packet of biscuits being out of date also feature in the clips.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 hoax 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.”