A lady who contacted the emergency line in the United Kingdom to request that the police remove a spider for her has come under fire from the police.
West Yorkshire Police uploaded an audio recording of the woman begging the phone operator to send someone to get rid of the “huge” insect from her home on Twitter. According to the police, this is only one instance of an “inappropriate call” that the department received on the 999 emergency line, as stated in the description.
Please refrain from calling 999 if a spider is present in your home.
This is just one instance of a call that was made to our 999 emergency line that was improper.
The lady was heard stating in the video, “Hiya, you’re probably going to go crazy at me right but I’ve actually tried phoning everyone and you’re my last hope. Someone, somebody come and remove this spider from my home. It’s enormous, and I’m not even kidding.
“Unfortunately, the cops wouldn’t be able to come and retrieve a spider out of your house,” the contact center representative replies.
People were warned by the West Yorkshire Police not to dial 999 unless there was an emergency. According to the agency, they receive close to 120 calls every day on their emergency line that are not life-threatening.
The police noted in the audio-video, “While we recognise not everyone may like an eight-legged guest, a call like this might hinder someone in a true emergency from obtaining the care they need. “999 should only be contacted when there is a true risk to life or a crime in progress,” the agency further stated.
Social media users, too, agreed with the police. They slammed the woman and said she should be billed for wasting time. One user wrote, “Should have responded and taken her address, Then turned up to issue her with a fine.” Another said, “They should be billed for wasting time.” A third added, “I too am frightened of spiders but wouldn’t ring the police.” “Why sit there and talk to her, though? Why not end the call after the stupid response,” wrote the fourth.
