BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) — Police in Barnstable, Massachusetts, were stumped when a woman from a nearly identically named town in the United Kingdom called to report a car crash.
The Boston Globe reports that a woman called in to Officer Mark McWilliams to say she was “driving back from Barnstaple to Muddiford” when she saw the crash.
A perplexed McWilliams asked the woman where she was, to which she replied: “Ilfracombe.”
Ilfracombe is on the northern coast of England, about 13 miles north of Barnstaple.
McWilliams and the woman went back and forth for about two minutes before realizing they’re on different continents.
The two shared a laugh and McWilliams deadpanned: “Our response time is going to be about six hours.”
The BBC said the woman misdialed after searching online for the police department’s number.
