Think twice before calling 999 . . .

This is in a bid to raise awareness of the 101 non-emergency number.

Among some of the more bizarre calls, which were tweeted by Police Scotland to more than 20,500 followers yesterday, were requests for a lift, complaints about carry outs and a mother moaning about her son’s hair.

“Caller on 999 says phone has been stolen. When asked what phone he is calling from — he hangs up… He was speaking on it!” was one of the more recent examples.

Another asked: “Can you go to a house in Tottenham, London and see if my friend is having an affair?”

While earlier this year, time wasters phoned because: “I cannae afford a taxi home”, and, “I’ve just been thrown out a nightclub and I want to know why?”

Another caller said: “Restaurant delivered the wrong carryout. It contained nuts, which I’m allergic to. What are they trying to do to me?”.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman told The Extra: “Police Scotland has emergency service centres across the country answering hundreds of calls every day.

“Unfortunately we receive a proportion of time-wasting 999 calls on a daily basis, a very serious issue.

“Although a number of our examples will seem pretty amusing, there is a very serious message to remember too.

“Our staff treat every incoming 999 call with the same level of seriousness so when we receive inappropriate ones we risk being unable to answer a genuine emergency call as quickly as we’d like to.”