Man dials 999 after seagull tries to steal his sandwich

A man called police after a seagull "tried to rip a sandwich" out of his hands. Credit: PA

Police were called after a seagull tried to steal a man's sandwich, it has been revealed.

The man told a 999 operator the greedy gull had swooped down on him when he was outside a McDonald's in Bristol city centre.

He told her: "One of them seagulls tried to rip the sandwich out of my hands."

As the man urged the operator to check CCTV for evidence, she asked: "What's this got to do with the police?"

The call was one of several examples of "inappropriate" use of the 999 emergency service highlighted by Avon and Somerset Police as part of a 24-hour tweetathon by officers.

In another call a woman reported the owner of a guest house where she was staying for refusing to cook breakfast.

One man complained his fish and chip dinner was too expensive, while another tweet said: "Man found with top off in middle of a road in Glastonbury saying he was 'basking in positive energy'. Was told to find it off road."

A force spokesman said: "Since midnight we've had 41 inappropriate calls to 999 using up precious time for emergency calls."