A man in his 60s has been banned from calling 999 for two years after making nearly 100 nuisance calls to police this year alone.

The man, from Canterbury Road in Borehamwood, has been given the Criminal Behaviour Order – which prohibits him from calling 999 unless in a genuine emergency.

Often, he would call while intoxicated and waste call takers’ time with matters that did not require police attendance.

On one occasion, he called to say there was a strange man in his flat who turned out to be a genuine repair man who had come to fix his fridge, and on another he said his wife was having a heart attack despite her being completely well.

The order was granted at St Albans Crown Court on Tuesday, November 27. If the man breaks the conditions of the order, he could face a prison sentence.

PC John Phelan, from the Borehamwood Community Safety Team, said: “This is a great result, as the man in question was placing a significant strain on our Force Communications Room by making many inappropriate calls.

“It is not only incredibly frustrating for FCR staff, who are working really hard, but more importantly it could delay us in sending officers to those who genuinely need our help, and may be facing a life or death situation.

“The man in this case has also been enrolled on an alcohol treatment course which will hopefully go a long way to tackling his drinking issues, which are often the catalyst for his nuisance calls.”