Derbyshire police break their all time record for incidents twice in eight days

With a long spell of hot weather combining with England’s involvement in the football World Cup, Friday, June 29 saw the force deal with an all-time recorded high of 809 incidents.

Then – on Saturday, July 7 – that figure was topped as the force was called to deal with 920 incidents during the day.

Deputy Chief Constable Gary Knighton said: “We are experiencing increased demand on the 999 and 101 phone-lines – and this has the knock-on effect of increasing workloads in all areas across the force.

“To put the figure into context, it represents around 25per cent more incidents than we had to contend with on New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve. It’s certainly far more than we deal with on an average Friday or Saturday.

“For our officers, volunteers and staff to pull together as they have and continue delivering a high quality service to the people of Derbyshire is testament to their hard work and dedication.

“We would ask that those calling 101 in the coming days to be patient as the wait may be longer than usual – and to consider using the Contact Us section of our website as an alternative.

“Aside from that, please continue to interact with us as you usually would.

“We always welcome crime reporting, information about safety concerns and about possible crimes from members of the public.

“Having all of that information at our disposal allows us to make sound decisions about how we prioritise our workload at any one time, which is even more important at times of high demand.

“We very much appreciate the public’s patience and support.”