Emergency 999 call made to Cambridgeshire police to have cigarettes delivered

A video released by the force has revealed a hoax caller asked a call-handler: “Can somebody bring me a packet of 20 king size Red Royals please?”

Unsurprisingly the call-handler, who would have been expecting an emergency to be unfolding, responded: “Say that again, sorry?”

After the caller repeated the request the call-handler said: “Okay, do you understand that you’ve called 999 life or death emergency?”

The caller said, “yes,” to which the call-handler responded: “Well, unfortunately you getting a pack of cigarettes isn’t a life or death emergency.”

The video, which did not have sound, was tweeted by police with the message: “Running out of cigarettes may feel like an emergency to some, but it isn’t.

“Calls like this put lives at risk. Please only dial 999 when there is immediate danger, threat to life or a crime is in progress. Thank you.”

No details on the age, gender or address of the caller were given.