Serial burping 999 Cambridgeshire call suspect arrested

Police said no amount of fizzy drinks excused burping repeatedly at 999 operators

A man suspected of repeatedly calling police on 999 and burping down the telephone at the emergency call handler has been arrested.

A person called 22 times over the past week to belch at staff members of the Cambridgeshire force.

Last week officers released a recording of three of the calls but following a further 19, they made an arrest.

"Regardless of how many fizzy drinks you've had, this is not an appropriate use of our 999 line," they said.

The recording of the first few calls - posted by the force last week on Facebook - have been listened to by more than 40,000 people.

"This may make you laugh, but for us this is no laughing matter," police wrote.

They warned making unnecessary 999 calls meant "we may struggle to answer calls and deal with genuine emergencies".

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said a man was arrested at Peterborough railway station on Tuesday after 19 burping calls were made to the 999 emergency number within a short space of time in the early hours of the morning.

He is currently in custody on suspicion of public nuisance offences.