03 for Non-Emergency.

I read today that people are being reminded not to dial 999 unless they face a genuine emergency.

It's reported that up to 70% of all calls to 999 are being dialled for wholly inapproriate reasons.

One article on the BBC website says that a woman dialled 999 because the rabbit she bought via a newspaper advert, didn't have floppy ears!

Many organisations are turning to 03 numbers to use as a dedicated Non-Emergency Line to reduce unwanted calls to 999, which could stop genuine emergencies being dealt with more quickly.

Durham Police, Essex Police and Northumbria Police are leading the way with their 03 numbers - although I'm still not sure whether they would be too overwhelmed to hear about 'faulty' pets on that line either!