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

The Met Police says it handled 2.2m 999 calls in the last year, but only 15% needed "an immediate dispatch"

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.

Cdr Caroline Haines said: "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.