A MAN called the police in the hope that officers would deal with a 'putrid' chicken he bought.

Thames Valley Police shared a recording of the ridiculous 999 call on Facebook in a bid to urge others to 'think before you dial'.

The force is reminding people not to use emergency numbers for non-crime related issues.

It posted a recording of 999 call made by a man about a rotten chicken with the caption: 'When not to call 999 reason #210 – picking up a ‘putrid’ chicken from Tesco…'

In the two-minute call, the man - whose voice has been disguised - said: "This is an odd thing to put to you, but I bought a chicken yesterday from Tesco. I put it straight in the fridge without opening the bag.

"I opened it and the smell from it is absolutely disgusting. It's putrid."

He later asked: "I don't know what to do with it, can you advise me?"

The call handler said in response: "There's nothing I can advise you with other than throwing it away. Or taking it back to Tesco yourself and telling them."

The man said he did not want to put it in the bin outside because it would 'contaminate' the bin and 'a rat could get at it'. 

The call handler then replied: "There is nothing the police are going to be able to do with it, I'm afraid. This  is a civil matter between you and Tesco."

The man asked the police whether they could collect the chicken, saying: "If I paid for the petrol, could you not send a car out for me?"

To which the call handler replied: "No unfortunately, we are dealing with crimes at the moment. It's not under our remit for us to come and collect a rotting chicken."

  • In an emergency always call 999 
  • In a non-emergency call 101 
  • To report a crime online, click here. 
  • To report a crime anonymously call the chairty Criestoppers on 0800 555 111.