Police gave a frosty reception to a time-wasting woman who dialled 999 – to complain her ICE CREAM did not have enough chocolate sprinkles.
West Midlands Police yesterday gave the dozy female her just desserts by releasing audio of the nuisance call on Sunday.
The woman can be heard telling the baffled call handler that an ice cream vendor had only given her sprinkles on one side of her cone and had been refused a refund.
In the minute long call, she says: “Hello I’m sorry to ring, I know it doesn’t seem much of an emergency but I’m at an ice cream van and I’ve ordered an ice cream, yeah?
“And the person has basically he’s given me the ice cream and put the bits on one side, none on the other.
“I said can you do it properly please and he’s like that ‘no, no’ he’s not doing it properly.
“I said OK fine then can I have my money back and you can keep your ice cream and he is refusing to give me the money back and saying I’ve got to take it like that.”
At this point the frustrated 999 caller interjects and tells her: “Its not really a police matter, it’s a civil matter.”
The unapologetic woman still presses the operator and asks: “How do I deal with this?”
She is then told to contact Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards to which the woman replies: “How do I contact them then because I’m standing outside the van right now.”
The call ends shortly after the call handler tells her: “Try the internet….this is a 999 life or death emergency line.”
West Midlands Police’s Force Contact team tweeted from their account on Sunday:“999 call from adult female who was reporting an ice cream vendor for not putting enough chocolate sprinkles on her cone… #unbelievable”
Yesterday Chief Superintendent Jim Andronov, head of the force’s Contact Centre, warned time-wasters that their calls could cost lives.
He added: “Typically West Midlands Police receive over 1500 calls a day to the 999 number and our operatives have to deal with each one accordingly.
“Of these, some 10 to 20 per cent are not police matters and around 50 per cent are non-emergency calls where contact is appropriate via the 101 number.
“As well as the bizarre calls police also receive deliberate hoax calls which take up vital time.
“It’s astonishing listening to them but they hide a serious truth.
“Each call often takes minutes to deal with as staff have to clarify the situation – it might not sound like much but, if someone is trying to get through to report a genuine life or death emergency, then a minute is a very long time to wait.
“I cannot stress enough that the 999 number is for emergencies only, for guidance this is defined as: a crime is in progress, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.
“We do not want to discourage people from contacting the police so for any other reason call 101.”
It was the latest in a string of crank calls to the 999 services across the West Midlands Police force region in recent months.
Only on Monday the force had a call from a homeowner who wanted to report a RAT in her kitchen.
And last year police released a recording of a man who dialled police to complain about a PROSTITUTES looks after meeting her outside a hotel.
The caller dialled 999 and told operators he “wished to report her for breaching the Sale of Goods Act”
Another caller sought help from emergency operators after forgetting her Facebook password, while a man dialled 999 to ask how to dial the 101 non-emergency number.
A separate “emergency” call was made by a member of public reporting a spiritual healer as a fraud, while another asked police “to come out to frighten his sister.”
Other bizarre calls included a man phoning to claim to have found a hair in his food at a fast food restaurant.
Another demand came from a reveller who phoned to moan about being refused entry to a night club.
Almost half of the 700,000 telephone calls received annually by the force’s emergency number are deemed to be inappropriate.
