Being ‘Too Old’ for a Nightclub Triggers 999 Call to the Police

Published on: 24 Sep, 2021
Updated on: 27 Sep, 2021

By Julie Armstrong

local democracy reporter

A woman nearing 40 dialled 999 to tell police that bouncers wouldn’t let her in a Surrey nightclub because she was “too old”.

Surrey Police has hit out at inappropriate 999 calls after the 38-year-old thought this was a good use of police resources at about 1.30am on a Friday night earlier this month.

In another incident, a caller used the emergency line to report he was following a car that had its petrol flap open. He was concerned it would cause a fire as the weather was warm.

It turned out the petrol cap was screwed in, the driver had just forgotten to close the flap. It is not known if the caller’s phone was on hands-free.

The force said misusing the service meant those in genuine need of urgent help would wait longer to get through.

It said demands on policing are now back to pre-Covid levels and over the August Bank Holiday weekend emergency call handlers dealt with more than 1,730 calls.

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: “Please use 999 responsibly. It should only be called in a genuine emergency when you need immediate assistance and not simply because you cannot get through on non-emergency numbers.

“Anyone with a genuine need for emergency assistance, where life or property is in immediate danger, should always call 999, otherwise please get in touch with us either online at police.uk or by calling 101.”

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