LONELY Margaret Dixon rang the police nearly 200 times because she wanted to phone a friend.

Miss Dixon, 42, had no one to chat to after leaving sheltered housing to live on her own in the community, a court heard yesterday.

She swamped the Cleveland Police switchboard, in Middlesbrough, with up to 40 calls in a day just to hear another voice. Her phoning went on for five months.

Sometimes, she refused to put the phone down from her Middlesbrough flat or a call box, and the lines were clogged up for other callers for lengthy periods.

She appeared before magistrates in Middlesbrough, yesterday, on seven charges of breaching a court order not to ring the police except in an emergency.

Her solicitor Simon Walker said: "There was nothing malicious about all these calls.

"She felt totally isolated living on her own after being in sheltered environment. She craved company and phoned the police out of loneliness."

Miss Dixon was given 18-months probation on condition that she lives in a residential home, and attends day centre activities to keep her occupied.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said later: "She has tied up lines and taken up officers' time. It is a sad case and we hope the court's decision will help to resolve the situation for her, as well as us."

The order restraining Miss Dixon from harassing the police remains in force.