Most calls answered in time

SEVEN in ten calls to 999 in South Yorkshire were answered within the ten-second target time during June.

The average wait for the 25,279 calls was 13.7 seconds, the force’s data for the month showed.

The performance has steadily increased in recent months, with only 17 per cent of calls answered quickly enough in April and 27 per cent in May.

Supt Cherie Butle said: “I am pleased that we are starting to see significant improvements in our call handling, and ultimately providing a higher standard of service to the public of South Yorkshire.

“Staff within the force control room are committed and work hard to serve their communities. Their dedication to implement all of the recent changes has been testament to their conscientiousness.

“We continue to urge the public to report their non-emergencies via our online portal, and use our live webchat facility to ensure that our lines are free to accept emergency calls.”