ROTTING chicken was the reason behind one man's 'emergency' 999 call, police have revealed.

A recording of the bizarre conversation to the Thames Valley Police emergency call handler shows the man phoning initially saying 'sorry to trouble you' before going on to explain his issue with a 'putrid' chicken in his fridge.

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He says: "I bought a chicken yesterday from Tesco, I put it straight in the fridge without opening the bag. I opened it and the smell from it is absolutely disgusting. It's putrid."

The man explains the issue of him being unable to dispose of the chicken as he does not want it in the house or in his bins outside.

He added: "Could you, if I paid for the petrol, could you not send a car out for me?

The police call handler explains it is a civil matter and not one that police would deal with.

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The recording has been released by the force to urge people to #ThinkBeforeYouDial as part of a campaign to stop time-wasting 999 calls.

As part of the force's effort to make people aware of the continuing problem on time-wasting calls it also released a recording of a validd 999 emergency call.

The caller can be heard describing two offenders who are in the process of breaking in to a neighbours house.

It revealed 80 per cent of calls to 999 are not an emergency.

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The force said before calling 999 ask yourself two questions: Is someone's life in danger? and Is the crime taking place right now?

If it not an emergency situation then the number to call police on is 101.