Gregory Robinson
The audio recording from a phone call in which a woman called 999 to demand the police remove a 'massive' spider from her house has been released. Listen below:
West Yorkshire Police have shared the embarrassing phone recording where you can hear the woman demand the operator send someone to her home to remove the unwanted eight-legged guest.
The woman in the audio clip said: “Hiya, you’re probably gonna go mad at me right but I’ve literally tried ringing everyone and you’re my last hope.
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“I need someone to come and get this spider out of my house.
“It’s absolutely massive and I’m not even joking!”
The call operator responds: “Unfortunately the police wouldn’t be able to come and get a spider out of your house.”
The video includes an important warning for members of the public to prevent them from using 999 unless it's an emergency. "A call like this could prevent someone in a genuine emergency receiving the support they need," the message reads at the end of the clip.
"999 should only be called when there is a real danger to life or a crime is in progress.
"Think before you call".
A message left by the police in the video's description reads: "This is just one example of an inappropriate call that we've had to our 999 emergency line.
"On average, we receive 120 calls a day to our 999 line that are not a life or death emergency.
"One is too many."
The woman received criticism on social media after the phone call audio was released on West Yorkshire Police's Facebook and Twitter pages.
One unimpressed Facebook user said: "I think what makes this phone call worse is that she clearly knows she’s doing wrong. Please just lock these people up in a spider-filled cell and throw away the key."
Another person quipped: "Bet this caller is one of the people that complains on Facebook that the police don’t do anything …"
The criticism continued on Twitter, where one person shared: "Should have responded and took her address, then turned up to issue her with a fine."
While another person tweeted: "They should be billed for wasting time."
West Yorkshire Police is an extremely busy force that serves approximately 2.2 million people living in one of the five metropolitan districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.
Spiders in the house, although quite unsightly, are not an emergency situation and calling the police to remove the eight-legged creatures could take away valuable and often limited resources from someone in an actual emergency.
In emergencies, such as a crime taking place or if someone is in immediate danger, call 999
In non-emergencies, for example for general police enquiries, if a crime or incident has already taken place and there is no emergency, in the event of minor traffic collisions that does not need an emergency response or to provide information on criminality, like anti-social behaviour, call 101