Man calls 999 to complain about his bananas as Northamptonshire Police reveal most bizarre 999 callouts

A peacock in another resident’s garden also caused concern, prompting them to call the emergency services.

Northamptonshire Police have revealed a number of 999 calls made to the service that did not constitute an emergency.

Some related to suspicions about dangerous food, including a man claiming that his bananas had spiders egg on them, and a woman who suspected that wine gums on the floor outside her address may be poisoned and linked to recent stories about narcotic dog deaths.

Others wanted to report finance-related issues. One person complained that their masseuse was too expensive, while another called to report that they had not been paid their benefits.

Equally indignant was a report from a patient complaining that their dentist had assaulted them by giving them a filling.

Even more obscure reports included a concern about cats being forced to marry each other via a website.

Non-emergency calls  from citizens wishing to report that they themselves had solved crimes were also recorded.

One man said that someone at Sainsbury’s had told him that an eagle was flying in the local area and suggested he report it out of concern for local children. The caller had also read in a local paper that 30 cats had gone missing in the area, leading him to believe that he had found the culprit and that the eagle should be arrested.

Meanwhile police also received calls from people who did not wish to report a concern at all, with one merely offering sexual favours.

People who wish to report non-life-threatening concerns to the police are asked to call 101, rather than 999. Some police services, such as West Midlands, have charged callers for phoning the emergency number.

Officially, wasting police time is an offence which can carry anything from an £80 fine to a six-month prison sentence.

It includes wasteful employment of police by falsely reporting to them, or to anyone else, that an offence was committed, by making the police think that there is a real danger of safety to a person or property when there is not, or by implying there is information available in relation to an ongoing police enquiry.

To contact police call 101.