Police were called to a home in Wiltshire to investigate a large poisonous spider on the loose - which turned out to be a piece of fluff.

A woman called the police after spotting what she thought was a creepy crawly which might have travelled in a crate from overseas which contained furniture she had had delivered.

Details of the call were released by Wiltshire Police as part of a week-long campaign to highlight the inappropriate use of the 999 and 101 numbers.

This wasn't the only example of wasted police time.

A force spokeswoman said: "The campaign aims to educate the public about the appropriate use of the 101 and 999 numbers, reduce demand on the crime and communication centre and highlight the excellent work of our call handlers who are often under extremely difficult circumstances."