Police are investigating claims that a Brechin woman made more than 20 calls to Police Scotland’s non-emergency line that were not answered.
Carol Simpson became so frustrated not being able to speak to someone in Tayside on the 101 line that she resorted to dialling 999.
Mrs Simpson wanted to report fireworks being set off by youngsters near her High Street home at around 7.15pm on Sunday October 25.
She said that at that time she made around seven calls to the 101 number which went unanswered before she resorted to reporting the incident by calling 999.
Another firework was set off at around 5am the following morning.
“Again I tried to phone the police and I couldn’t get through,” she said.
“I thought I better not make another 999 call because I’d probably get into trouble. I tried on 101 six or seven times.
“Then I tried again between 8am and 10.30am around every 20 minutes.
“I eventually called 101 and asked for Grampian instead of Tayside and spoke to a lovely lady there who also couldn’t get through to Tayside either. She said it was just ring, ring, ring.
“I think the situation is absolutely ridiculous.”
Mrs Simpson, who has five dogs and seven cats, said fireworks being set off upset her pets.
She said the issue of fireworks being set off on a grass area near her home had been going on for years.
“The fireworks end up in my garden,” she said. “The youngsters seem to think they can do whatever they like.
“On Sunday several fireworks went off before I went out and roared at them and said it was illegal to set off the fireworks.
“They were absolutely terrifying my pets.
“I saw one of the fireworks come shooting into my back garden.”
Mrs Simpson said that after she reported the incident on the 999 call she had expected a police officer to call her back or attend her house.
After hearing nothing from the police, she called again on Friday and was told that officers had attended on Sunday night and warned a group of youngsters near her house about their behaviour.
A police spokesperson said they were investigating the situation.
“Police Scotland can confirm that a 999 call regarding concern about fireworks scaring cats was received and officers attended to assess the situation,” said the spokesperson.
“We have spoken to the member of public to discuss their concerns directly and we are looking into any previous calls that may have been made.
“We aim to answer 90% of 101 calls within 40 seconds and 999 calls within 10 seconds.
“We continually assess the calls being received at our service centres and area control rooms to ensure that we can respond quickly and most effectively where the need is greatest.”