A POLICE force's control room has warned against inappropriate emergency calls after a caller dialled 999 to ask for the time.

Essex Police's force control room urged the county's residents to only use 999 in an emergency.

The control room took the inappropriate call on Sunday morning, with a similar call coming through on Saturday.

In a Tweet, police said: "We had someone call 999 to ask what the non-urgent number was.

"These calls aren't appropriate use of 999 and delay genuine help."