'Is that the police? There's a spider in my room'

"In the last year, just 15% of all 999 calls to the Metropolitan Police have been for genuine emergencies, the force has said. Non-emergency calls included someone who had a spider in their room, another whose dog would not come back into their house, and others who have had no-show delivery drivers. The force said the calls, which totalled 1.87m between July 2024 and July 2025, took up valuable call handler time and stopped them from dealing with genuine emergencies."

"When someone's life is in danger, or a crime is being committed, seconds count. Unfortunately, too many people call 999 for things that simply aren't an emergency or a matter for police."

"Other reasons people called 999 unnecessarily included asking for updates on previous crime reports, reporting crimes which were not immediately happening, reporting items stolen days or even weeks later, or civil disputes, such as arguments between tenants and landlords, the Met said. It urged people to only call 999 when there was a threat to life, someone was in immediate danger, or there was a crime in progress. Other matters could be dealt with by calling 101, the force said."

In the last year, only 15% of 999 calls to the Metropolitan Police were genuine emergencies. A total of 1.87 million calls were recorded between July 2024 and July 2025, with many incidents involving non-emergency issues such as spiders in rooms, dogs not returning home, and no-show delivery drivers. Other unnecessary calls included requests for updates on previous reports, reporting historical thefts, and civil disputes between tenants and landlords. These non-urgent calls consumed valuable call-handler time and impeded responses to true emergencies. The Met urged the public to call 999 only for threats to life, immediate danger, or crimes in progress and to use 101 for other matters.

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