North Yorkshire Police received highest number of daily 999 calls ever on Saturday after 'freedom day'

North Yorkshire Police revealed there were 470 emergency calls in 24 hours on July 24, the first weekend after most lockdown restrictions were lifted.

It is the highest number on record, after police warned last month that they were already getting more calls for help per day than they would usually see on New Year’s Eve.

One officer tweeted from York city centre on Saturday night to say there was a “very high number of violent incidents”.

The average number of 999 calls received per day has continued to rise. Last month the force said it was averaging 300 daily calls and in July that rose to 347 and has increased again in the past six days after the lifting of most restrictions.

It means it is now taking the force an average of 33 seconds to answer a 999 call when the target is to answer 90 per cent of calls within 10 seconds, a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner heard.

And it is taking an average of seven minutes and 15 seconds to answer 101 calls.

Emergency funding was granted yesterday by North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott for extra staff to answer calls.

Lindsey Butterfield, North Yorkshire Police deputy chief constable, said: “We’re seeing excessive demand for calls to service, it’s unprecedented. It’s on a national level although it’s having a significant impact on North Yorkshire.

“That’s absolutely not where we want to be as a service in terms of how quickly we answer those calls from the public.”

Staffing and call numbers are reviewed daily and Mr Allott added: “For me it’s a crucial issue. We want to get this right.”

In June police said they were answering more emergency calls than they would normally receive on New Year’s Eve, which is one of the busiest days of the year for the force.

The number of calls answered each month has continued to climb, from a new high in May of 8,203 emergency calls to 8,423 in June. Officers are now predicting to answer more than 9,000 999 calls by the end of July.

At busy times calls can be referred on to another group of staff to be answered.