Father criticised for calling cops on unemployed son

A man called emergency services twice to complain about his deadbeat son. Photo / Getty Images

A frustrated father has been slammed after he called emergency services because his lazy son refused to get a job.

According to Metro, the man called 999 — the British equivalent of triple-0 — not once but twice earlier this week simply because his adult son wouldn't get off the couch and begin job hunting.

Apparently, the child had complained to his parents that he wasn't able to find a job that was "suitable" for his talents, reports news.com.au.

A spokeswoman from Lincolnshire Police told the publication there was no excuse for wasting officers' time with such a petty complaint.

"This is definitely not an appropriate use of an emergency line. Words of advice issued," she said. "No matter how much you may want your child to get a job, calling the police is not the answer."

The spokeswoman stressed that emergency services were only for real emergencies — and that clogging the line with a trivial complaint could lead to the death of someone else who actually needed assistance.

A man called emergency services twice to complain about his deadbeat son. Photo / Getty Images

Last month, another couple in the UK were criticised after they called police to report their daughter, who had threatened them after they had banned her from watching Love Island.

But it's a problem affecting emergency services Down Under as well, and in March this year Queensland Police released a snapshot of some of the most shockingly trivial calls to triple-0 after revealing a massive 90 per cent of calls weren't for real emergencies.

In one example, a man called police because he wanted to know what time Blue Heelers went to air, while another woman dialled triple-0 after having trouble ordering a taxi.

Another individual, who had just woken up, wanted to know the date while another called to complain about a passenger playing loud music near her on a train.

And last year, Ambulance Tasmania also released a report exposing the gross misuse of the triple-0 line.