Parking row sparks ‘nine-person brawl with knife’

During the five-hour 999 “postathon”, call handlers received 227 calls.

One of them said an ex-partner was “outside their house with petrol cans”, while another reported a man “dancing” on a motorway.

In another batch of calls, police said one was about someone’s Amazon parcel going missing, while another reported that someone had put children’s toys and cushions in the top of their bin.

Twenty calls were silent, with five believed to be “pocket” calls.