About 3,000 miles from Barnstable, there’s a small town in southwestern England called Barnstaple. It’s where the Cape Cod community long ago got its name, Barnstable Police Sergeant Sean Sweeney said.

Last week, the similarities in the names created some confusion.

A Barnstable, Mass., police officer got a call Thursday from a Barnstaple woman and was baffled.

The call began when the woman told the officer she had witnessed a car accident on her way back from Muddiford to Barnstaple.

“OK, where are you exactly?’’ Barnstable Police Officer Mark McWilliams asked.

“I’m in Ilfracombe.’’

Unable to understand her, McWilliams asked her to repeat the name. Then, he asked for the road she was on, or a landmark, but he couldn’t get a clearer answer.

“Dear, I’m not familiar with that at all,’’ he told her. “Well, where have I called then?’’ the woman asked. “You’re not local then. You can’t be because Ilfracombe is the next town over from Muddiford.’’

“Ma’am, you’ve called the Barnstable Police Department in Massachusetts,’’ McWilliams told her.

“Massachusetts? There’s no way you can help me then, is there?’’ the woman said.

The woman revealed to McWilliams that she was calling from England.

“Our response time is going to be about six hours,’’ McWilliams told the woman.

“I’m sorry,’’ the woman said. “Gotta laugh.’’

Dylan McGuinness