BRAMPTON— It's not that Peel Regional Police don't want you to call them, it's that they want you to call the right number.

Police are reminding the public to use 911 for emergencies only after a Brampton man tied up the line for 10 minutes Saturday to inform officers that the grocery store sold him mouldy bread.

Const. Fiona Thivierge, a spokesperson for Peel police, said the irate resident returned the bread to the store and was given two loaves before calling 911 to complain that the business was selling bad bread.

From expired food (you may want to try the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) to your neighbour's barking dog, Thivierge says non-urgent calls or inquiries should be made directly to Peel police by calling 905-453-3311.

"Any emergency call is something that needs to be dealt with right this second – somebody's armed, it's a break-in in-progress, someone is drinking and driving – we need to get to that immediately. So, if you don't have something like that, then you shouldn't be calling 911," said Thivierge.

"If you wake up and your car's stolen, that's no a 911 call, that's a regular police call."

She added, "Some people don't know the normal number, so it's an education thing on our part. It's not necessarily the caller's fault."

In April, Peel police held a press conference to inform residents about the proper use of 911.

"Inappropriate phone calls tie up important phone lines and 911 operators," Inspector Brian Smithson said at the conference.

Last year, he said, Peel police fielded 700,000 non-emergency and emergency calls on both lines. Of that number, 370,000 were for 911.