North Yorkshire Police received more 999 calls on Saturday than on any other day, ever.
Call volumes to the emergency services are currently elevated across the country and with last weekend being the first since the full easing of lockdown restrictions saw more people out and about and more calls to the emergency services.
Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield says it's putting pressure on the control room.
North Yorkshire Police revealed there were 470 emergency calls in 24 hours on July 24, the first weekend after most lockdown restrictions were lifted.
It is the highest number on record, after police warned last month that they were already getting more calls for help per day than they would usually see on New Year’s Eve.
Assistant Chief Constable Butterfield says it wasn't a one off and the force has been receiving high call volumes for a number of weeks.
The increase in call volumes means that it is now taking the force an average of 33 seconds to answer a 999 call when the target is to answer 90 per cent of calls within 10 seconds, and it is taking an average of seven minutes and 15 seconds to answer 101 calls.
Emergency funding has been granted this week by North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott for extra staff to answer calls.
Comments
Add a comment