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Police have released an unbelievable 999 call - from someone asking them to dial 101.

During the short call, from a man whose brother has recently appeared in court, the caller asks the operator to dial 101 and check how he got on.

When the operator refuses the caller asks for the correct number for 101.

Following a previous call - where a woman dialled 999 to complain about a lack of sprinkles on her ice cream - chief supt Jim Andronov, head of the force’s contact centre, said: “Typically West Midlands Police receive over 1,500 calls a day to the 999 number and our operatives have to deal with each one accordingly.

“Of these, some 10 to 20 per cent are not police matters and around 50 per cent are non-emergency calls where contact is appropriate via the 101 number.

“As well as the bizarre calls police also receive deliberate hoax calls which take up vital time.

“It’s astonishing listening to them but they hide a serious truth. Each call often takes minutes to deal with as staff have to clarify the situation - it might not sound like much but, if someone is trying to get through to report a genuine life or death emergency, then a minute is a very long time to wait.

“I cannot stress enough that the 999 number is for emergencies only, for guidance this is defined as: a crime is in progress, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.

“We do not want to discourage people from contacting the police so for any other reason call 101.”