What does a Preist, a pizza and a TV show have in common?

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What does a Priest needing the toilet, a Pizza with the wrong topping and an engaged TV show final phoneline have in common?

Is it the start of a bad joke?

Well yeah, sort of, they are all emergency calls to the police.

That was three of some 5,000 emergency reports to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) this Christmas.

GMP police has urged the public not to dial 999 for "ridiculous" reasons.

A priest called the Police emergency service phone number, 999, when staff at a shop in Manchester Airport would not allow him to use the toilet.

In another call one woman complained to officers that she was not able to get through to the BBC televisions live final of Strictly Come Dancing.

During other calls there was a man who complained about staff at a food takeaway shop because they had wrongly put mushrooms on his pizza, a woman for chemist opening times and one hoax to report that Santa was breaking into a house with Rudolf.

Supt Karen Lee of GMP said: "I don't want a person to call 999 and be delayed because someone else is calling to report something that is not an emergency or, worse still, that is completely ridiculous and a deliberate joke.

"People dialling 999 for non-emergency calls can put lives at risk because it could delay someone who really needs urgent help getting through."

Supt Lee added: "People calling 999 for non-emergencies and silly pranks can have a major impact on members of the public who need the police."

Last New Year GMP dealt with more than 3,000 emergency calls in six hours after midnight, and thousands more were taken on the force's non-emergency numbers.