Sorry if these seem like stupid questions but it's really only my first time of something like this happening.

Basically at 4am i was rather rudely and abruptly awakened by a loud bang against my door, not like a normal knock, it was definitely more of a pounding or kicking of the door. I just thought that it was a random thing (maybe a drunk etc) and groggily didn't take much notice of it until i suddenly leapt up when the banging continued a few more times accompanied by a lovely local (here at uni) voice swearing his head off. It seems as if he was doing the same to some of the other neighbours (i live on my own in a private apartment, 2 other people on the floor who are local - don't know them) and it seems as if one of them was "dealing" with it. Essentially all i could here was just a rather loud conversation in a northern accent with the F word thrown in every other sentence. Luckily the police came after 20-30 minutes and somehow "resolved" (will continue later) the situation.

Firstly two things i wanted to ask:

a) What could/should i have done if a neighbour hadn't appeared ? Obviously i'm not going to go out there and confront him, unfortunately i'm not exactly of very tall stature nor am i rather built so i can't exactly just tell the guy to piss off. As mentioned previously i also live alone which means should anything have happened the person would have had free reign of the apartment. I was thinking about phoning the police myself however i wouldn't judge it as an emergency (999) and according the police website states that an emergency is where:

• There is risk of injury
• There is risk of serious damage to property
• You suspect a crime is in progress
• It is a serious incident which needs immediate police attendance

Personally to me i wouldn't have said any of those were in effect ? Maybe the risk of injury or the "serious" damage to property? I'm really bad at judging these things so i don't really take having a door constantly kicked as being "serious" damage but i assume that's not up for me to decide?

b) Since the neighbour appeared, i couldn't exactly tell how many people it was trying to kick the door, although i think i clocked a neighbour and another person, a randomer and a women (through the eyehole). Not sure who was who and how any of them were related. The argument appeared to be rather heated and i definitely could hear quite a lot of it. As said before they were rather liberal with the F word and i know at one point i believe a mini fight may have started. As before, what could or should i have done? I definitely was thinking of Police involvement but in my opinion there was even less of a situation or "criteria filling" than before since technically isn't them arguing merely just being antisocial ?

c) Kind of linked in with the above about phoning the police, if i were to phone the police what number would i phone ? I've only found 3 numbers so far, 999, a 24 hour "non-emergency" advice line and the number of the local police station. The first i've already given my view on it not appearing to "be" an emergency, the middle one states that:

• There is no immediate danger to life
• The crime is NOT in progress
• The offender is NOT nearby
• You have a general enquiry

Of which i guess some of them aren't valid since the "crime" *was* in effect and the offender was nearby. And with the number of the local station, they don't open till 9am or something.

Onto the "next section". Basically after the police came etc. not quite sure what happened, i saw them talking to a few people outside (the building) and i heard the "randomer" apologising to someone he saw (i assume it was my neighbour). They left pretty quickly afterwards, not sure what happened. However just as i was about to go back to asleep some other [LIFTED] started up outside the building with an argument between two/three other guys outside. One basically walked away but another one appeared to have started a fight with the other and "challenged" him one on one. The guy moved out of my field of view (from the kitchen - didn't really want to be seen) and saw him swing (didn't look like it connected) and then just come back with the left hand side of his head bleeding with the other person asking him whether he was stopping just because he was bleeding or something (like a taunt) and promptly what, and i'm not kidding, looked like a can of Carlsberg Export of something back into his trousers, just looked like a silver cylinder or something except it was too short and fat to just be a pipe or a more "practical" weapon. Anyhow, more argument ensued with the two, one calling out to his mate and the other shouting something about the others not every coming to outside the apartments again (+liberal swearing in between).

e) So i assume this would have been the right time to have dialled 999 ? I mean the crime/fight was in progress and someone had been injured? Ultimately i didn't dial the phone since i was trying to find a non-emergency crime line or something with another reason being one of the guys trying to get his mate to "give us the phone" which i assume he meant trying to get an ambulance or something.

f) Another thing in the back of my mind was that it looked like a short thing that would resolve itself and as such was wondering what would happened it i had dialled 999, got a police van or car and the "offenders" had left? Would i have to explain myself or something? I'd feel guilty calling them here on an "emergency" if there was nothing to show for it...

Ultimately another pair of police vans came and it looks like they sorted everything out (again) since it's been quiet for the past 5 minutes.... as such i'm going to be heading back to bed.

I'd appreciate it if anybody could answer any of the questions above since it's not exactly the best neighbourhood in the world and i get the feeling this probably won't be the only time it's happened (although surprised it hasn't happened earlier ).I also remember having the same strange feeling/thought/problems before when i broke my ankle and remember having to phone the local health centre to ask about whether or not i needed to dial 999.

And apologies yet again if they seem like stupid questions.

Thanks =].

999.

IMO it's that simple =)

If you're scared then it's probably the right thing to do. It's better to dial 999 and call in the artillery on a lone soldier than to call your mum and find out it's Rambo.

I agree, dial 112 and let the police deal with it.

If somebody is banging loudly on your door and yelling, you are probably pretty scared of what they would do to you, if they broke the door down (that is injury and damage to property taken care of)...

Better to call the police, be a coward and live to be a coward another day, than to play the hera and die / end up in hospital...

Me too. If the banging continues for any length of time and you are concerned about it. Call the police. Simple.

They love a good scrap and will gladly take care of it. The only downside is they'll probably want to talk to you afterwards if you placed the call.

In most cases (obviously not all) people will move on if you ignore them. That's also a valid strategy IMO, but it of course depends on how long you can tolerate someone kicking your door.

I'd probably call the local police first, it's not an emergency, but it is effecting people. People and property could get hurt, but I don't see a scrap being an emergency...

I've never actually got through to anyone before when calling the "non-emergency" number... It's usually a direct line to the local station, which means if they're busy slash if it's late at night and they're all out on patrol then it'll just go to answerphone.

Can be hours before they phone back. Was actually once a day ^_^

There is a set procedure, but it depends on how the operator who takes the call perceives it I believe. Then its down to the attenting coppers too. These days, they tend to favour cops who want to look like Phil Mitchell both in in mannerisms and appearance. The days of the friendly village (Heartbeat like) copper are over !

Good luck.

Yep 999, the threat is immediate & he's still at the scene since he's kicking at your door.

If the crimes in progress dial 999. If it's not important call the non urgent numbers

Thanks for the clarifications.

I assume that was solely for if i'd been alone and the kicking had persisted ?

What about the argument ? It was definitely loud enough to hear i my room with the door closed (although the walls aren't very soundproof) and the stupid time would have meant it was disturbing many others on the other floors of the apartment as well.

If someone's kicking your door, that's 999 no matter how many of you there are (it's an immediate threat).

Noise/arguments is non-emergency, unless it turns violent then it's a 999 call.

Simply tell them someone is trying to break into your flat, kicking the door in is that to put it simply!

I've had the pleasure of calling 999 for the police a number of times. I have never read the guidelines but each time I've phoned they have responded very quickly.

1. Walking home one night and walked past a house with front door swinging and glass broken in -called in saying I thought it had been broken into. Pretty much instantly two cars went hairing past me towards the property.

2. Across from my old house a VERY heated debate started raging. It seemed to be between two couples, and one or two blokes getting involved too. The argument was about custody of a toddler who was there and obviously distressed. I called the police after one of the blokes haired it up the road and screeched to a halt before bundling the kid into the back. Then, as I was on the phone it all kicked off big-style. The car got smashed up, and one guy got his head put through the window as I was giving a bit of a commentary to the woman on the phone. By the end of the call a car with four officers and two vans had arrived. Six officers in total and a nice scuffle before a few arrests.

3. Left a nightclub early (around 1130) and headed away from the main drag and about three streets away came across a VERY drunk man lying in the middle of the road. We went over to offer him some help-call him a cab or help him onto the pavement, what ever, when he got super aggressive but was too drunk to even stand up! It was quite funny really. We had a quick discussion about it and then decided we would call the police so they could sort him out. He was going to get robbed or run-over or something where he was. We made the call and left, that's the last I heard of it.

I don't really know how they stack up to the criteria you posted, but I felt comfortable calling on each occasion and I have never been told that I shouldn't have called. In my mind, someone was in danger in 2 and 3, and in 1 I was pretty convinced that there was something going on.