UNDER-PRESSURE police chiefs have urged members of the public to only use the 101 line for reporting non-urgent crimes and revealed the force had received more than a 6,500 calls during Storm Dennis.
West Mercia Police have fielded more than 1,600 emergency 999 calls and 5,000 101 calls during the storms which battered the county over the weekend and caused the record-breaking river levels still being seen today across the area.
Despite this, some callers to 101 have enquired about road closures and flooding updates, including one caller who wanted to know if the police could provide waterproof clothes for wading through flood water.
Calls to 101 should only be used to report non-emergency crime, during busy periods the best way to report crime is online at www.westmercia.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime
The force’s online forms are monitored all day and the form submissions will be prioritised in exactly the same way as 101 calls are.
Information on road closures is available online and on social media.
