A man rang 999 in the early hours of the morning to beg firefighters to rescue his toy helicopter.

The caller explained how the aircraft had crashed on top of Asda Pendlebury in Salford , and that he urgently needed their help getting it down.

The emergency operator told the man he should wait until the supermarket reopened later that day.

The call handler also alerted police, in case the chopper owner attempted the rescue and injured himself.

Officers in Salford then followed up by ringing the caller and told him to wait and speak to the shop directly.

No emergency crews were deployed to the scene. The call came from the store on Hampson Street, opposite the Esso Garage on Bolton Road on the Pendlebury/ Swinton border, at around 2.20am on Sunday morning, October 18.

Officers at GMP Salford West posted on their Facebook site: “Call received from a male stating his toy helicopter had landed on the roof of Asda and he wanted the fire brigade and ourselves to retrieve it! This might happen on Fireman Sam but not in GMP, sorry.”

The report was met with amusement from followers.

Sue Akpobaro added: “My mental image has gone crazy lol.”

Sharon Barlow: “I know shouldn’t laugh but it did make me chuckle.”

But Caroline Dinnage appeared less amused when she posted: “I love these people who waste our time and possibly block us from taking a real call.....”

It was the latest in a series of bizarre 999 calls across the region. Earlier in October, a lap dancer rang police to get her wages after she was thrown out of her club for being drunk.

The M.E.N also reported last week how a takeaway customer called 999 threatening to ‘smash up’ a pizza parlour during a row over the toppings.