Living dangerously: Queen Elizabeth II is driven from Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster ahead of the State Opening of Parliament on June 21, 2017. Photo / Getty
Living dangerously: Queen Elizabeth II is driven from Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster ahead of the State Opening of Parliament on June 21, 2017. Photo / Getty
As the Queen traveled to Westminster last week for the State Opening of Parliament, one eagle-eyed observer noticed she wasn't wearing her seat belt as she rode in the rear of the car.
This observer then decided that such a flagrant, public flouting road safety regulations ought not go unpunished - and so dialed UK emergency servics on 999.
The call went through to the West Yorkshire Police Customer Contact Centre:
— WYP Contact Management Centre (@WYP_Contact) June 21, 2017
What the operator told the caller, we sadly do not know. However, Tom Donohoe of West Yorkshire Police commented: "I cannot stress enough that the 999 number is for emergencies only."
Under UK law it is compulsory to wear a seat belt if there's one fitted - but the Queen is immune from any civil or criminal proceedings.
A statement on the British Monarchy website says: "The Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law."
A woman phoned police to complain about how much a clown was charging for balloons. Photo / 123RF
The London Metropolitan Police recently released a list of 10 of the most ridiculous time-wasting calls it had received of late:
1. A woman who had seen a clown in London selling balloons for £5 each, which was "much more than other clowns were charging"
2. A woman who said she had bought a cold kebab and the shop would not give her a replacement
3. A man who called 999 as he was advised to phone 111, but did not know the number
4. A caller who dialled 999 at 4am on a Saturday and asked: "Where is the best place to get a bacon sandwich right now?"
5. A man who said his 50p coin was stuck in a washing machine at his local launderette and wanted police to retrieve it
6. Callers who missed their alarm and were going to be late for a flight and wanted officers to take them to the airport
7. Callers in distress because their low fuel indicator light had come on
8. A man who did not have change for a parking machine and who claimed staff at a carpark had kidnapped him because they were refusing to let him out for free
9. A woman who wanted police to deal with a pair of noisy foxes outside her home as they were preventing her from sleeping
10. A woman who said there were men in her house trying to take her away. The men in question were actually police officers who had come to arrest her
Chief Superintendent Pippa Mills, head of the Met's command and control, said: "This is just a sample of inappropriate calls received by our operators this year.
"Callers who do not have an emergency may prevent others who require our immediate assistance from getting through to us. This presents a real risk to our ability to respond to genuine emergency calls."
