Whistling bus driver and KFC chicken among Met Police 999 time-wasting calls

A fast-food restaurant running out of chicken and a whistling bus driver were among the 21,000 time-wasting emergency calls taken by the Metropolitan Police this year.

Between January 1 and November 30, Met call handlers took more than two million 999 calls, but 21,733 of these were unnecessary.

Scotland Yard released recordings of seven of the time-wasting calls they received this year, including somebody wishing them a "Happy New Year", and another moaning about how long it took a pub breakfast to be served.

In one call, a woman can be heard complaining about a whistling bus driver, saying people should be "respectful".

She told the call handler: "Everybody's tired, what if everybody starts whistling or singing on the bus?

"I don't really like this because I think they must be respectful."

Other callers complained about a lack of female taxi drivers, the doors of a broken-down bus being shut, and an argument with another driver about right of way.

Police have warned the public that time spent dealing with hoax and false calls takes officers away from fighting crime.