A teenage boy from Somerset has been slammed for wasting police time after he rang 999 because he had missed the school bus.
The Bristol teen rang Avon and Somerset Police asking for a lift to school yesterday morning.
The details of the call were revealed on the police force’s Twitter feed.
Police also retweeted a post from the call centre operator who spoke to the schoolboy.
“Just taken the most shocking 999... I’ve missed my school bus. Is there anyway the police can give me a lift. ABSOLUTELY NOT!” the tweet read.
The public also reacted angrily to the request, with one social media user saying the incident had left her with “no words”.
Another said officers should have given the teen a lift... straight to the police station.
However, others defended the boy, saying he may have just been following advice from his parents to call the police if he was ever in trouble.
Avon and Somerset Police estimate they receive 85 inappropriate 999 calls every day - despite the fact that hoax calls can land offenders with a £5,000 fine and up to six months in prison.
The force also received a call yesterday from a landlord asking officers to help him collect owed rent.
A police spokesperson told the Bristol Post: “The wrong use of 999 and hoax calls is detrimental to the service we provide to the community.
“Even a small percentage of hoax or misuse calls will have an impact due to the time spent dealing with them by our call handlers and our officers.
“We need to free up the 999 lines as there could be a life or death emergency waiting to get through.”