A WOMAN who phoned 999 to explain she was going to eat some chocolate Hobnobs to help her sleep was just one of hundreds of call-makers dealt with by Dorset Police on a busy Friday night shift.

The force shared live updates of every call to its 999 and 101 numbers over a 12-hour period to make the public aware of the volume and variety of calls it receives.

The ‘tweetathon’ took place between 4pm on Friday and 4am on Saturday and saw the Force Command Centre handle nearly 500 calls to the emergency 999 and 101 non-emergency lines. Hundreds of additional calls were dealt with by an initial triage call-handling team.

As well as receiving multiple reports of assaults, domestic violence, fights, thefts, and missing people, the force also dealt with numerous enquiries that should not have been directed to the police.

One person called 999 to report some traffic lights in Bournemouth that were stuck on red. The caller was advised it was not a police matter, and certainly not an emergency, shortly before the lights changed to green.

Another person from Poole phoned 999 to report their neighbour’s TV was too loud. They were also told the matter was not an emergency and they should contact their local council to report it.

A delivery driver then called 999 after a customer took a photo of him after he delivered their takeaway. The call-handler told him this was not an offence and passed the details to 101.

A drunk woman in a pub in Bournemouth called police on 101 to report a man who was looking at her. She did not know the man, however she was advised it was not an offence to look at someone.

And a man called 999 to report he had caught a bus but there was no return bus, so he was stuck and did not have enough money for a train home. After being told it was not a police matter he made a follow-up call and demanded police arrange an ambulance to transport him home. When told this would not be possible, he shouted and swore at the call-handler.

The Force Command Centre also dealt with several calls from people with mental health issues and some with dementia.

One man in a care home called 999 after seeing some police on TV. Due to his dementia, he struggled to tell the difference between the programme and real life. Officers will speak to staff at the man’s care home to ensure he is supported, Dorset Police said.

And the fire service contacted police after finding a confused man on the A338 who said he had woken up in a puddle and didn’t know how he had got there.