AN INABILITY to access a pornography site was just one of the bizarre reasons that people called 999 over the festive period.

A cat stuck up a tree and a cold takeaway were more outlandish examples of the emergency calls North Wales Police have fielded over recent months.

The information is being made public as North Wales Police highlight their continued #DontTieUpTheLine message to help lessen the amount of unnecessary and inappropriate calls.

Figures in 2017 show that North Wales Police has received almost 410,000 calls; including emergency and non-emergency calls.

Over the festive period (15 December – 3 January) North Wales Police received 4,407 ‘999’ calls and 14,984 ‘101’ calls.

Temporary Superintendent Nick Evans, from the Joint Communications Centre, is urging people to only use the ‘999’ line in an emergency, and ensure that calls to the non-emergency ‘101’ number are for policing matters.

Advice on some non-urgent issues can be found on the force website.

He said: “Each unnecessary call to us reduces time available for calls which are for genuine policing matters.

“Traditionally Christmas and New Year are among the busiest times of year for the police and we are simply asking people to use the 999 system wisely to help ensure a legitimate emergency are prioritised over the festive period.

“Phoning 999 – which is an emergency line, for trivial matters such as to report a cat stuck up a tree is a complete waste of resources, and could possibly prevent a genuine life or death emergency call being put through.”

Other previous examples of inappropriate calls made to North Wales Police have included request for taxis, a broken television set and someone coughing their cigarette out of their mouth.

There has also been a recent spate of children phoning 999 from payphones and one example includes a child phoning 999 whilst being taught by Mum who was teaching her child regarding how and when to use the system.

As well as the 101 non-emergency line North Wales Police also offer live webchat for people to contact officers online for non-urgent matters.

This is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The force recognises that people may not always want or need to call them on the phone so other options are offered, including e-mail and online reporting forms.

Supt Evans said: “We strive to answer all calls as quickly as possible, but due to the variable volume of calls in to police communication centres, waiting times for the non-emergency line will vary.

“For example an RTC on a main trunk road will result in a particularly large call volume. ‘999’ calls will always be prioritised but please do not be tempted to misuse the number for routine matters, as such callers will simply be advised to call back on the non-emergency number.

“We do have powers to prosecute people for misusing the 999 system and if people are found to be consistently making hoax calls they could face prosecution.”