An audio clip has been shared of a caller who dialled 999 after spotting a cat following him down the road.

The call has been shared online by Metropolitan Police to show how some people wrongly dial 999 for non-urgent matters, preventing officers from responding to genuine emergencies.

Chief Superintendent Dan Ivey explained that the call was made from someone in Finchley.

When asked what their emergency was, the person responded: “Actually, we are walking to home and there is a cat following us.

“I think it’s from someone and it’s following us for a long time.

“So we don’t know even if we –

“She started running after us. I don’t know what to do with it.”

The 999 operator responded: “So a cat is following you?”

Chief Supt Ivey explained the caller “genuinely thought it was a lost cat, and expected the police to come and collect it”.

The Belsize Village Business Association jokingly responded, saying they hoped it wasn’t “Obama of Belsize Village”.

The association wrote: “He does follow people but it is to say hello. He is innocent.”

Police ruled out any concerns Obama had been causing mischief. Chief Supt Ivey said: “Pleased to say we’ve checked out Obama’s alibi and he isn’t a ‘cat of interest’.”

The Metropolitan Police received an influx of 9,500 emergency calls last Wednesday (June 21), of which 1,385 required urgent assistance.

In a follow-up tweet today (June 26), Chief Supt Ivey said: “For those of you interested, I asked colleagues to make this tape public.

“Although amusing in some respects – this call took time which prevented others from getting through to us.”

Police urged people only to call 999 about genuine emergencies.

The Met wrote online: “Our call handlers are working hard to respond to the demand but to help prioritise the most urgent calls, please report non-emergency matters to either 101 or met.police.uk.”