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Police say stay on line if you accidentally dial 999

West Yorkshire Police is urging people to stay on the phone if they call 999 by mistake, so that officers don't waste time checking if help is actually needed.

The force estimates that the equivalent of two call handlers’ shifts a day are taken up with dealing with dropped calls to the emergency services.

It says if you realise that you have pocket-dialled or your child has called 999 and the call has connected then it saves police time if you stay on the line and explain what has happened.

Tom Donohoe, Customer Contact Centre Manager, said: “On an average day, we receive around 200 dropped 999 calls. For every one of these calls, our call handlers must get back in contact with the caller and check that it wasn’t a legitimate call for service and that the caller is ok.

"This can be extremely time consuming and frustrating, especially if we struggle to get back in touch with the caller. I estimate that around two full call handlers’ shifts are taken up every day making these welfare checks from dropped 999 calls.

“I completely understand why your first instinct would be to hang up if you realise that you or a child have dialled 999 by mistake but we would ask that you stay on the line so that we can quickly establish that you do not need the police or any other emergency service.

“It is also probably worth a timely reminder to try and keep your phone locked and out of reach of children when it is not in use.”

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