Police force receives thousands of hoax 999 calls
Cambridgeshire PoliceA police force has urged people to think carefully before they call 999 after new data revealed a steady rise in the number of hoax calls.
Cambridgeshire Police received 1,427 hoax calls last year, a 48% increase from 961 in 2023, according to a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC.
The force has shared recordings of some calls online, including children asking for help with their homework and requesting food from McDonald's.
"We need people to think before they call us and only dial 999 in a genuine emergency," a spokesperson said.
"Misuse of our 999 service could cause delay in us answering the phone to genuine emergencies and could even lead to the arrest of the hoax caller and even a prison sentence."
People making fake 999 calls could go to prison for up to six months or be fined £5,000.
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Cambridgeshire Police answered 740 hoax calls between the start of January and the end of May this year, the latest period for which data is available.
One in five of the 4,166 spoof calls received by the force since 2023 were made in Peterborough, more than three times as many as in Cambridge.
By contrast, the county's fire service saw almost half as many hoax calls last year compared to the year before – down from 64 to 35.
And the East of England Ambulance Service saw a similar trend, with calls falling from 262 to 142 in the same period.
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