'What's your emergency?' - Seven real-life 999 callers who shouldn't have rung police

By Monday evening, the team had handled more than 5,500 calls to the emergency number – but not all of them could be classed as serious or life-threatening incidents.

In a tweet, the force’s customer contact centre explained: “The 999 line should be used when there is a crime in progress or a threat to life. In those situations, seconds could mean the difference between officers catching a suspect at the scene or them getting away and ultimately life or death.”

The team say they understand calls can be placed accidentally sometimes, especially when young children get hold of mobile phones, and they ask that people stay on the line in those cases so operators can be sure that someone has not been forced to hang up while trying to get help.

What they do find frustrating are the non-emergency calls made to 999 that could delay them getting to a caller in immediate danger and the calls that should not be directed to the police whatsoever.

Highlighting once such case this weekend, the team wrote: “No, we won't take an injured pigeon that is in your garden to the vets..... Least it wasn't on 999 but still.... #NotAPoliceMatter.”

Seven real examples of what is #not999 appropriate

With so many people struggling to work out whether to ring the emergency number and ask for police or dial the 101 non-emergency number, the customer contact centre sets out to educate the public by tweeting real-life examples using the #not999 hashtag.

Here are seven examples of inappropriate 999 calls that they have shared in the last few days.

• It is not a 999 emergency call that someone has stolen some clothes off of your washing line. Yes it is a crime but this is not ongoing, so not an emergency.

• Someone writing a 'nasty' Facebook post about your partner yesterday, does not warrant a 999 call right now.

• If you need an emergency dentist, then ringing 999 and speaking to the police won't get you one.

• ‘There is a fire, but it’s only little so I rang you instead of fire brigade.’

• You shouldn't ring 999 to enquire about someone possibly being in custody.

• Having no cigarettes isn't a police issue.

• If you ring 101 and are advised your call isn't a police matter, don't then ring 999 and demand that it is a police matter.

How to report non-emergency incidents

West Yorkshire Police offers a number of ways to make contact and report non-emergency incidents.

It has the dedicated 101 number, an online chat facility and online reporting forms for a range of issues including anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, drug dealing and theft.

People who have previously reported a crime and want to receive an update can also use the local crime tracker on the force’s website or leave a message for the office working on their case instead of calling up.