Police plea over 999 calls on busiest night of the year
Police are preparing for the busiest night of the year - and are advising people to only use emergency services in a genuine emergency.
New Year's Eve can be the busiest night of the year for the emergency services and West Mercia Police are expecting tonight to be no different.
Last year between 7pm on December 31, 2014, to 7am on January 1, 2015, West Mercia Police received 433 emergency 999 calls, which is a 230 per cent increase to the average number of calls per night.
At the peak of the night, from 1am to 2am, a 999 call was received once every 26 seconds.
Chief Inspector Sean Kent said: "The festive period is the busiest time of year for the emergency services and plans are in place to ensure that we have the resources needed to keep our communities safe.
"We are asking the public to help us by being responsible in their use of the 999 emergency number.
"We don't want to deter anyone from calling 999 but we are asking people to use the system sensibly over the Christmas and New Year, to ensure that we can respond appropriately and quickly to genuine emergency calls."
In a bid to ensure West Mercia officers are able to use their time to deal with genuine emergencies, they have released a guide on when to call 999.
Officer say that 999 should only be called if there is a danger to life or a risk of injury examples include serious road traffic collisions, assaults or serious disorders, if a crime is in progress or if police attendance is required immediately such as to prevent a breach of peace, someone acting suspiciously or someone who is about to commit an offence.
Anyone who needs to contact the police when it is not an emergency should call 101.
