AUDIO: 'My Snapchat's not working', man tells West Midlands Police 999 operator
A man called 999 today to complain to police that his Snapchat app was not working.
The bizarre call to the West Midlands Police Force Contact Centre about the social networking app was highlighted on Twitter.
The man says: "Hello? Hi there, my Snapchat's not working."
The operator replies: "Do you really think that's a matter for the police?"
He respondeds: "Well I need help, sorry. It's an emergency."
The operator replies: "No, Snapchat is not an emergency."
The man replies: "OK, I do apologise for that then."
The operator then warns the man that false and malicious calls can be traced.
Another tweet from the account said that the call handler who had spoken to the Snapchat user had dealt with the man 'superbly' after a 'busy and stressful night'.
Some Twitter users called for the man to be prosecuted.
It's one of several time-wasting calls highlighted by the force recently. They included a woman who called the non emergency 101 number about an injured seagull.
Another said he had a 12ft lizard on his lawn, before clarifying that it was a 12in lizard.
Chief Supt Jim Andronov, head of contact, said: "The 101 number provides a vital service for people to contact us for non-emergency matters – but some people treat it as a general directory service.
"We take literally hundreds of spurious calls a month…these take up valuable police time and delay us dealing with genuine police matters. Many of the queries could be resolved with a simple internet search so our message is: Think Before You Call."
