Police chiefs say a culture of vigilance has sprung up in the wake of this year's terror attacks, fuelling calls to Cumbria's 999 line.

People's fears over the national picture has led to more awareness of suspicious behaviour - leading to a rise in demand, according to the force.

The county's assistant chief constable, Mark Webster, spoke about the situation as details of the surge in calls was made clear.

Chiefs said the force had seen unprecedented levels of demand over the summer.

This beat even the number of emergency calls received during the month Storm Desmond hit, bringing catastrophic flooding in December 2015.

Mr Webster said the situation with the rise in calls was "pretty similar" across the UK.
Mark Webster, Assistant Chief Constable

"These calls are really exceptionally high," he said. "There's been a massive increase.

"There is no doubt the awareness around terrorism, all that has generated much more vigilance.

"People don't ring to say: I'm reporting a terrorism event.

"But they are concerned with things that are suspicious, things they think are unusual."

In December 2015 the force received 5,486 emergency calls via 999 when the county was hit with the floods.

But there were 5,890 and 5,690 received during July and August this year.

"We've seen a big spike in demand," said Mr Webster.

"Any force you go to, everybody is having the same issue.

"You can't define it to any category but people are generally more vigilant.

"People will ring and say: I've seen this, it just doesn't look right.

"It can be vehicles, bags, whatever."

Cumbria Police pointed out how the head of the National Police Chief’s Council, Sara Thornton, spoke out last week about the issue.

She said there was an "unsustainable strain" being put on police forces following the recent terrorist incidents and threats, alongside rises in emergency calls to the police.

Officers said that in Cumbria during the busiest period they were typically answering 90 per cent of 999 calls in less than 10 seconds, with the average wait being less than eight seconds.

But callers to the force's 101 line had to wait an average of more than eight minutes to get through last month.

Prioritising 999 calls had led to there being the increase in waiting times on the non-emergency line.


We're doing our best on 101, say police chiefs

Officers are doing all they can to cut waiting times on the delay-hit 101 line, says one of Cumbria's top policemen.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Webster said the force had revamped shifts and provided extra resources to try to slash delays.


Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria, Peter McCall The county's crime commissioner, Peter McCall, earlier this month said concerns over the 101 number - used to relay information about crimes as serious as deaths, robberies and rapes - were "probably the most common" he dealt with.

His admission followed an investigation earlier this year by CN Group, which revealed callers at that time were left waiting up to six minutes for someone to answer the phone.

Now officers have revealed the results for last month - which climbed to an average of eight minutes and 22 seconds.

"Officers are genuinely working very, very hard," said Mr Webster.

"We understand the frustration people have but we have to resource 999.

"We are doing everything we can to reduce the times you are waiting.

"We are doing everything we can to bring that down.

"We've put more resources in, changed around shifts to make sure we can match demand.

"We are also looking at other mechanisms and other IT systems.

"A whole host of different things are being put in."

He said problems such as a crash on a busy road could lead to demand surging on the line.

Mr Webster added if problems were not "time critical" people could email the force at: email 101@cumbria.police.uk.