A New Zealand man who rang the emergency number to falsely claim he had been "raped by a wombat" will have his moment on fame on British TV.
Ross Cradock gained worldwide notoriety for the call, made in frustration at not being able to get through to his local police station, and for the claim his alleged ordeal had made him "speak Australian".
"I dialled 111, and they asked, 'fire, police or ambulance'. I said I wanted to talk to the Motueka police, and they said it had to be an emergency, so I hung up and then called back, and they said the same thing, so I said 'OK, I've just been raped by a wombat'," he told the Nelson Mail newspaper.
He then tried to withdraw the complaint.
"I'll retract the rape complaint from the wombat, because he's pulled out," Cradock told the operator.
"Apart from speaking Australian now, I'm pretty all right you know."
Cradock, 48, was arrested for making a hoax call and convicted of using a phone for a fictitious purpose.
But his stunt was picked up by BBC TV's The Graham Norton Show, which has interviewed him for a new series.
Cradock says his story had given people a good laugh and the reaction had been a "bit of a riot".
He is serving a 75-hour community work sentence.
