Bizarre emergency calls are being highlighted by West Yorkshire Police to remind Bradford residents to only dial 999 in an emergency.

Real examples of calls received by the force include a call reporting a broken freezer, someone wanting the time, and a report of a cat straying into a house.

Others have called to report a dead pigeon in their garden, a snoring dog, a missing packet of rice and for advice on a mobile phone contract.

The lives of people in genuine need of emergency help are being put at risk by inappropriate calls, especially over the busy festive season, police chiefs warn.

Chief Inspector Michael Quirk, of the force’s communications division, said: “These calls are so ridiculous it’s astonishing listening to them but they hide a serious truth.

“Each call often takes minutes to deal with as our 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.”

The force defines an emergency as being a situation where there is likely to be danger to life, use or immediate threat of violence, serious injury or serious damage to property. These types of calls are responded to immediately and a delay could prove to be fatal.

Chief Insp Quirk said: “Typically, we receive more than 1,000 calls a day to the 999 number and our operatives have to deal with each one accordingly.

“Demand for our services often increases when we have issues such as the recent heavy snow fall to contend with. With more snow forecast and the festive season it is more important than ever that we are able to deal with emergencies as quickly as possible and not have our time taken up with silly calls.”

Police also receive deliberate hoax calls which take up vital time, he said.

He said: “The daft calls are bad enough – but for someone to maliciously dial 999 to take up police time, knowing they are making a false report, is unacceptable. On average we receive about 6,000 hoax calls per year – which is about 19 every day of the year. Rest assured we will pursue those involved in malicious calls with vigour.”

The maximum punishment for wasting police time is six months in jail.