Police have released a bizarre emergency 999 call from a Londoner who feared a cat was stalking him and a friend as he walked home.
Scotland Yard released the recording to dispatchers in a bid to cut out nuisance reports that waste police time.
In the call an unidentified male tells operators: “We are walking to home and there is a cat following us I think it is from someone. It’s following us for a long time.
“Even if we run she starts running after us. I don’t know what to do with it.”
The incredulous call handler interjects: “So a CAT is following you.”
It came as Scotland Yard said the force in one day received 9,500 calls to 999 with 1,385 of those requiring urgent assistance.
The Metropolitan Police’s Chief Superintendent Dan Ivey tweeted: “Can’t quite believe I’m typing this but I’ve just been told one of our most recent calls on 9ï¸99 was someone reporting being followed down the road by a cat.
“Yes. A CAT. I had to listen to the call myself to believe it.”
A Met spokesman tweeted: “Calling 999 to report a cat following you is not an emergency. Calls like these prevent those who really need an urgent police response from getting through to us. #ThinkBeforeYouDial”
The force added: “Our call handlers are working hard to respond to the demand but to help prioritise the most urgent calls, please report non-emergency matters to either 101 or http://met.police.uk”
It came months after the Metropolitan Police was criticised after figures showed that Londoners have to wait an average of nearly three hours for officers to attend “lower urgency” 999 calls.
The wait time for a police response for these calls, which include reports of burglaries where the suspect has gone, anti-social behaviour and collisions without injury, rose to two hours and 47 minutes in the year up to August, almost treble the 60 minute standard.
Scotland Yard responded by saying that the number of officers being sent to protests was being cut to speed up the time it takes to respond to the 999 calls.
