UNBELIEVABLE examples of emergency 999 calls have been published to mark the 80th anniversary of the service's launch.

The world’s oldest emergency service was launched in London on 30 June 1937. A fire at a London doctor’s surgery in November 1935, which led to the tragic death of five women, resulted in a committee being set up by the government to look at the problem of how telephone operators could identify emergency calls.

Hoax or unnecessary calls were a feature of the 999 service from the very beginning, including a complaint about bagpipes being played outside a house and a dispute between a neighbour and the local coalman.

More recent examples including a caller asking for mountain rescue to come and help them get down from the top bunk of a bunkbed, someone who was struggling to fit into their wedding dress and one who asked for help for a seagull which "had a broken arm".

BT advisors now answer around 560,000 calls a week in the UK – including about 64,000 from the North West.

The latest development in the 999 service is Advanced Mobile Location (AML), a new mobile location system, pioneered by BT, to pinpoint 999 calls from mobiles more precisely. When an emergency call is made with an AML-enabled smartphone, the phone automatically activates its location service and sends its position in a text message to the 999 service.

EXAMPLES OF BIZARRE 999 CALLS

Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “I’m sorry to call 999 but I was looking for 101 but I don’t know the number.”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Young caller: “Mountain Rescue please.”

Advisor: “Where are you?”

Young caller: “I’m on the top bunk and I can’t get down.”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “I need the police please it is my daughter's wedding day and her dress doesn't fit

anymore. I need the police to come and help me get her in it.”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: "I need the police, I ordered a takeaway that cost me £30 and they took it to number

six, when I live at number seven."

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “My laptop password won't work, I need you to reset it for me."

Advisor: “That’s not something we can help with.”

Caller: “Can you call my service provider and get them to ring me back?”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “I need an ambulance, my husband has lost his pyjamas and he cannot breathe

without them.”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “Well it's quite urgent my Rabbit has escaped, I need help."

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “Can I get the Police, someone has stolen my snowman from my garden, can you

come quickly?”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “I need to cancel my hairdressers’ appointment, it’s an emergency and I can’t get

through to the salon.”

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Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?"

Caller: “There’s a seagull with a broken arm.”