POLICE have revealed some of the unusual calls received from the public this year - including a claim that a neighbour was stealing a cat by leaving her window open.

In the complaint to North Yorkshire Police’s control room, the caller said: “My neighbour keeps leaving her window open and my cat keeps going in her house.

"She’s stealing my cat by leaving her window open - can you arrest her for this?”

Calls to both 999 and the non-emergency number 101 are on the increase and North Yorkshire Police says its control room receives a huge volume of calls every day.

A force spokeswoman said: “We’re urging people to think carefully before calling and understand what the police can and can’t help with so you always #KnowWhenToCall.”

Other examples of unusual calls that North Yorkshire Police communications officers have dealt with this year include: “I bought a graphics card from Facebook and it’s not working” and “a serial killer keeps calling me".

The control room also received this call: “I have just bought a loaf of bread.

"It says 100 per cent wholemeal on the packet but the ingredients say one per cent soya so it’s not actually 100 per cent wholemeal. It’s obtaining money by false pretences.”

One communications officer said the strangest call they had ever taken was from a person believing that six years ago he had taken a “handful” of lottery tickets into a store and was told none of them were winners.

“He went back to the store six years later and the assistant who had served him previously no longer worked there as she’d won the lottery,” the officer added.

“He firmly believed that she had stolen the winning ticket from him.”

Another member of staff in the control room said: “I had a man call to tell me that he believed a particular brand of toothpaste is addictive and that the manufacturer puts in an ingredient which has caused him to become addicted.

"This particular brand of toothpaste costs about £5 for a small tube so he thinks this is why they make it so addictive, in order to make money from selling more toothpaste.

"He did however add that he only brushes his teeth twice a day so he is not overdosing.”