The call handling centre at the force’s Kempston headquarters answers 500,000 calls a year, but a small number are misguided or hoax calls, which could lead to a criminal record.

Centre manager, Adam Gould, said: “There is a big difference between hoax calls and those made out of ignorance.

“We have had hoax callers claiming someone has been murdered, which of course sets things in action, we respond by dispatching officers and that costs the force time and money.

“It is very different than someone calling up because the pizza they have had delivered is the wrong size.

“We have had all sorts of strange calls, reports that someone’s goldfish has been murdered, people ringing up with Trivial Pursuit questions like who was the first president of the USA, and can I have a taxi.”

Around five per cent of the calls received by Beds Police are misguided requests, but the centre’s operators reckon they receive less than half a dozen calls a year, which result in officers being sent on a “wild goose chase.”

All calls are recorded and people making hoax calls can be traced, given a fine and prosecuted.

Claire Millard, a supervisor at the centre, said: “There are not many instances where we send officers on a wild goose chase, we can normally tell if it is a hoax call.

“People do not understand what we do here, and we get calls from people who just want advice, like ‘my electricity has gone off, what do I do?’”

Mr Gould and his team answer 999 calls and non-emergency telephone calls made throughout Bedfordshire 24 hours a day, seven days a week and he cites the fatal stabbing of a Luton police officer as an example of the kind of thing they deal with daily.

He said: “It can be hard working here, when PC Jon Henry was stabbed the call centre staff were watching on CCTV.

“It takes a special kind of person to take these calls, to speak to someone who has just been raped.”

It may not be surprising that Beds Police receive more calls on Friday and Saturday nights than during weekday mornings, but Mr Gould revealed that one of the force’s busiest times was during a full moon.

Bedfordshire Police encourage people to call 999 in an emergency, but to call 01234 841212 for non-emergency matters.