A WOMAN who called the police to report her husband as missing was hit with a hefty fine after he was discovered asleep in upstairs.

The woman - who has not been identified - rang the police after arguing with her husband at their home in the White Road Estate, Chatham.

She told police her husband had not been seen since leaving the house early the previous day.

But he was fast asleep in bed when police arrived minutes after taking the call from the woman on Monday, December 6.

It is believed she wanted her husband to be picked up by police when he left the house in an act of revenge following their argument.

However, when police arrived they quickly realised they were part of a petty game and decided to use new powers to stop people wasting police time.

The woman was hit with an £80 fixed penalty, the first one used in Medway for this offence.

Acting Inspector Geoff Payne said: "The report was a total fabrication from start to finish. Our resources are severely stretched and this so-called prank was a complete waste of time.

"During November, in Medway alone, we received a total of 131 reports of missing people. While we were wasting our time with this we could have been investigating a legitimate call for someone who had gone missing.

"I believe this is the first time a fixed penalty has been issued for wasting police time and we will certainly consider issuing fixed penalties in the future for anyone else wasting police time and giving false reports."