Crazy consular requests

British nationals are wasting consular time with “ludicrous” inquiries about lost false teeth, runny jam and plastic surgery problems, William Hague has said in a speech at the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Secretary has urged British holiday makers and expats to stop making bizarre demands.

Calls logged by British consular staff include requests for help erecting a chicken coop, complaints about bad plastic surgery and a plea for assistance in translating “I love you” into Hungarian.

“Our commitment to good relations with our neighbours does not, I am afraid, extend to translating ‘I love you’ into Hungarian,” said the Foreign Secretary.

In the speech on strengthening Britain’s consular diplomacy, Mr Hague said Britons make more than 55 million individual trips overseas every year and around six million live abroad for some of or all of the time. Around one in ten murders of Britons in the last two years took place overseas and around 6,000 nationals are arrested every year.

Mr Hague said the figures showed the “immense demand” for the service. He added: “We ask British nationals to be responsible, to be self-reliant and to take sensible precautions.”