POLICE answered 937 emergency calls during a 24-hour Tweetathon, to give people an insight into the incidents they face.

They included a blow up jacuzzi being throw at a front door and a driver being spotted inhaling gas from a balloon on the M25.

From 6am on Friday, July 22, to the same time the following morning, Essex Police ran the Tweetathon from their Force Control Room.

It covered enquiries made via 999 calls and the 101 non-emergency service.

During the 24-hour period, 937 emergency calls to 999 were received and 3,000 non-emergency calls to 101 were dealt with by the switchboard.

Using the hashtag #FCRLIVE, over 330 tweets were sent out, and the event reached more than 1.5m Twitter users online, with people from across the UK viewing the tweets.

Some of the most memorable calls received were:

- Victim giving statement in police station calls 101 to get air conditioning turned down while waiting for officers to return

- 999 caller mislaid hair straighteners last week and now thinks they may be stolen

- 101 call from man wanting to know why he rang police yesterday as "he'd had a few beers" and couldn't remember

- 999 call from entertainment venue. Reporting that stag party has stolen a taxi and are driving it around a car park

- Argument between friends ‘bubbles over’ and results in blow up jacuzzi being thrown at front door

- An abandoned 999 call came in so we called back to check all OK. A child’s phone had gone off in his pocket as he played football

- Details put out over radio to officers for attention to a vehicle where driver spotted inhaling gas from a balloon on M25

- Police, Ambulance and Coastguard services working together to assist person in sea. Person rescued – officers wet

The force also received hundreds of reports of much more serious matters; including burglaries, violent incidents taking place linked to the night-time economy, missing people, support requests from ambulance and concerns for the welfare of vulnerable people.

Inspector Sarah Harding said: "We are really pleased with the positive response to the Tweetathon and I hope it has provided the public with an insight into our demand and response issues as well as demonstrating the different types and volumes of incidents received by our call handlers.

"Some of the incidents we tweeted may be humorous but they come with a serious message – for every inappropriate 999 call we receive, someone who urgently needs our help is kept waiting on the line.”