Man rang 999 simply to ask for the time

Officers shared details of all the calls they received between 5pm and 11pm on a busy weekday.

Their aim was to give the public an insight into the wide variety of problems police are expected to deal with.

One caller clocked up the title of biggest time-waster when he dialled 999 - simply because he wanted to know what time it was.

Officers promptly tweeted this with the hashtag #notatalkingclock!

Animals proved a strong theme, with one caller reporting swans were taking a rest in the middle of a road, and another asking about a lost Staffordshire terrier.

The swans were moved on by an obliging member of public before police arrived, while the owner of the lost dog was referred to the specialist website www.doglost.co.uk.

Alarmingly, several calls were made about irresponsible drivers.

One caller reported a lorry driver watching a television programme on his laptop while behind the wheel of an HGV.

Another man was spotted watching YouTube while driving along at between 70mph and 80mph.

An elderly man seen walking in the middle of a road in Milton Keynes at 7.22pm prompted an immediate dispatch of officers to the scene, as did reports of children playing close to train tracks.

Officers also ensured a female who had taken an overdose was safe and taken to hospital, and were equally quick to respond to reports of six males breaking into a cricket pavilion.

Sadly police were also called to several domestic abuse incidents, prompting them to tweet ‘#it’s notok’.