Police have slammed a pub goer for ringing 999 to ask for help in answering a quiz question.
The un-named pub quiz contestant rang the control room of Avon and Somerset Police late on Monday night because they were struggling to answer the question.
The force then took to Twitter to blast the quizzer - with other social media users quick to follow suit.
It said: ""Would you call 999 if you didn't know the answer to a pub quiz question?
"Because we have just received that exact call a few minutes ago. #not999 #dontcheatonquizzes"
In response, one person said: "Trace it and prosecute. Absolute joke."
Another posted: "What!!!!!!!!!! Can’t believe we have such thickos in this world."
A third added: "Deserve to be arrested for waisting [sic] police time" - to which someone replied: "That’s the correct answer!"
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Constabulary explained why people shouldn't call 999 or 101 for reasons such as this one.
They said: "Last Christmas, between 21 December – 2 January, we received 28,456 calls of which, more than 9000 were via 999.
"The 999 line is a life and death emergency lifeline and should always be available whenever someone needs to use it.
"Blocking these lines by calling with non-emergency matters or prank calls, can put people’s lives in danger. Please think before you call and only dial 999 in a genuine emergency.
"We can prosecute and do prosecute for persistent callers, where there is continued abuse of the emergency line.
"The fine can be anything up to several thousand pounds, depending on the offence and people have been jailed for the offence.
"If we can help cut the number of unnecessary calls we receive – via 999 and 101- this will reduce call waiting times and improve the experience for callers who genuinely need our help and support."
The tweet was posted at 11:46pm by a member of the police's call handling staff.
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