Sussex Police have been forced to issue a stern reminder about what constitutes a genuine emergency after one superstitious Haywards Heath resident dialled 999 after seeing a ghost.
Mid Sussex neighbourhood policing inspector Darren Taylor tweeted: "Phone call late last night from a resident stating that their neighbour had sent a ghost into their house to haunt them."
Together with a cartoon ghost GIF, Darren added that “some reassuring words” were given to the caller, as well as a few choice words of advice about ringing 999 “for emergencies only.”
The response to Darren’s tweet was predictably lively – with more than one person suggesting that the panicked Haywards Heath resident “should have called Ghostbusters” – which is of course completely unrealistic as Ghostbusters’ operations are confined to the New York metropolitan area.
Also the phantom-catching team is also entirely fictional.
Taking the issue slightly more seriously, Louise Thompson criticised Darren’s flippant approach, saying that while she was normally a “big fan” this call sounded like it could have been a serious mental health issue “that perhaps needed a multi disciplinary approach”.
She added while it might seem amusing to most of us, “it may have been an emergency to that person at the time”.
Tony Peters responded less sympathetically, speculating the caller “might have been on the spirits” before calling, reminding us that pubs do appear to be hotbeds of supernatural activity.
Several British pubs are said to have an in-house spook, including the Red Lion Inn in Avebury, which not only boasts the spirits of a mum and her two children who are said to haunt one of the guest rooms, but also a phantom carriage that occasionally turns up on its cobbled courtyard.
If you find yourself witnessing a mysterious psychic phenomenon, you’re better off getting in touch with a specialised paranormal researcher rather than the police, who really aren’t equipped for exorcisms.
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