【Ireland】

LONDON -- Being the person on Irelandthe other end of the phone when someone dials 999 must be one of the hardest jobs in the world.

Not only do you have to remain calm in the face of extremely stressful situations, but you also have to deal with people who haven't quite grasped the definition of "emergency".

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As part of a campaign to "reduce improper use of the 999 number over the Christmas period", London's Metropolitan Police have released extracts from 12 of the oddest 999 calls they received in 2016...

1.“Can you give me the number for the non-emergency police?”.

2.“I am [at] Heathrow and I have left one of my bags in a taxi?"

3.

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4.“Basically, I’m in N8 and I’m trying to get home to Finsbury Park and I don’t have any money on me for a taxi -- I want police to come and pick me up and take me home...”

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5.“My mum put a deposit down on a fridge freezer and they haven’t delivered it -- they keep changing the delivery date…”

6.“I’m lost and I’m looking for a building that I can’t find, can you tell me where it is?”

7.

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8.“I sent back my headphones because they are faulty and the manufacturer said they haven’t received them...”

9.“There was a bird in the store but it's ok, someone has removed it now…”

10.

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11.“I want to report that I have lost my driving license…”

12.“What time do the betting shops close in N18?”

Remember, it's not an information service

“Although the majority of people who require police assistance use the numbers correctly, there are still too many calls to emergency lines where the 999 number is being used as an information service," said Chief Superintendent Pippa Mills.

"In many cases a simple internet search would provide the answer to the question posed by the caller."

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