A MAN who made nuisance calls to the police had “too much time on his hands”, a court has been told.

Jason Garrad admitted contacting Hampshire police up to seven times in a day – at one point talking to officers about his pet hamster.

He already had an antisocial behaviour order barring him from contacting the police unless it was a genuine emergency or related to a current investigation.

But Garrad, 41, of Hewett Close, Titchfield , carried on making calls to the force’s inquiry centre, some lasting up to 43 minutes.

An earlier hearing Fareham Magistrates’ Court heard that during one call Garrad told an officer that he had got rid of a pet hamster because it chewed the cage bars and caused his neighbours to complain.

Defending, Simon Moger said none of the calls were made to the emergency number 999 and Garrad was not aggressive or abusive towards police staff, adding: “The calls weren’t frivolous but they were misconceived. He makes the point himself that he has too much time on his hands.”

Garrad pleaded guilty to breaching the order at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that Garrad had a previous conviction for making a hoax bomb warning at Fareham Magistrates’ Court in 2010.

He was sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid work and also ordered to pay £100 towards court costs.

He is also subject to a five-year antisocial behaviour order.