A four-year-old child who called 999 when playing with a mobile phone caused police to waste hours trying to find out if a serious crime was happening.

The child made the emergency call, screamed and then hung up with operators spending four hours trying to find where the call came from.

Officers were pulled from an ongoing incident to try and find the house before they found out it was a hoax.

Redbridge Police said they were receiving an increasing number of such calls and asked parents to ensure they have a PIN on their phones.