A MAN dialled 999 after getting a wardrobe stuck in a doorway - then asked a police officer to move it for him.

PC Simon Steel, of Darlington police, believed he was coming to the aid of an elderly man who had fallen when he responded to an emergency call on Saturday afternoon.

He turned on his siren and raced to help the "pensioner" in the Albert Hill area of the town.

But when he arrived, he found a middle-aged man standing in his kitchen - behind a wardrobe he was unable to shift.

"He was just standing there," said PC Steel.

"The only problem was that he couldn't get into his hallway. But he could have gone out the back door and come round to the front."

The man, who has not been named by police, claimed in the 999 call that he had fallen and got stuck behind heavy furniture.

When PC Steel arrived he admitted that was not true but said he did not know what else to do.

"I asked him if he had had a fall and he said 'well, no, I'm just moving this'," said the 33-year-old officer. "I think he'd had a few. I couldn't believe that was his idea of a 999 call. I'd put the blue light on."

Despite his annoyance, the officer moved the wardrobe. "I did it just to show him how easy it was," he said.

"He said he wasn't as young or fit as me but he was only about 50."

The man was given a stern warning about wasting police time but will not face charges.

Inspector Alan Davidson said that although the incident sounded funny it was the latest in a spate of calls which have wasted officers' time.

"We have been having problems with the 999 system being misused but this is the most ridiculous," he said.