More than 10,000 prank calls were made to Lancashire police in 2021 with that figure rising in 2022.

Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to every police force in the UK revealed that in 2020-2021, police in Lancashire received 10,028 hoax calls, rising to 11,227 in 2022.

This equated to more than 30 prank calls a day to the force; in England, police received an average of 266 prank calls per day.

Home security specialists, SimpliSafe undertook a series of Freedom of Information requests to uncover which UK constabularies receive the most prank calls in a year.

England as a whole received a shockingly high number of prank calls - with 91,290 between 2020 and 2021 and 102,930 between 2021 and 2022 - a 13 per cent increase in calls in a year.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “The 999 system exists in case of emergency.

“It is intended to be used only when there is a crime in progress or where life is at risk.

“Some people are ringing the number when there is no need to and this is simply not acceptable.

“As communications operators are dealing with these 999 calls, people in genuine need of emergency help may well be trying to get through.

“At best, these types of irresponsible calls are wasting valuable time and at the very worst, they could ultimately cost lives.”

UK General Manager at SimpliSafe, Jonathan Wall, said: “The amount of hoax calls the police received across the UK is very worrying, especially when the emergency services are stretched so thin.

"These calls are a waste of resources and misdirect help from the people who really need it.

“There are plenty of precautions and measures that the average person can take to help protect themselves, whilst taking some pressure off the emergency services; such as cameras outside your home and a good alarm system.

“Of course, if there is a genuine situation that requires the help of the emergency services, the right course of action is to dial 999.”

The county of Hertfordshire was discovered to have the highest number of prank emergency calls, with a total of 49,740 made over two years between September 2020 and September 2022. This averages out to more than 68 prank calls per day.

However, there were some outliers, with North Yorkshire Police in particular experiencing a 52 per cent reduction in prank calls year-on-year with numbers dropping from 4,968 to 2,389.

The top 5 UK police forces that received the most prank calls in 2021 and 2022

 

  1. Hertfordshire Police - prank calls in 2021: 21,899, prank calls in 2022: 27,841
  2. Bedfordshire Police - 2021: 14,417, 2022: 19,609
  3. Leicestershire Police - 2021: 11,964, 2022: 15,429
  4. Lancashire Constabulary - 2021: 10,028, 2022: 11,227
  5. Derbyshire Constabulary - 2021: 7,352, 2022: 7,027