999 plea as Greater Manchester Police see 'surge' in calls

Greater Manchester Police said it had experienced an "unprecedent" number of calls and that many of them are not emergencies.

It said it had received 2,459 calls on Friday (August 14) - almost 1,000 more than the 1590 it saw on the same day last year.

The force said it was "really worried" they will mess genuine emergencies after the rise.

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said: "The demand on our resources is immense at the moment with this unprecedented pressure on our call operators and the force.

"Despite these huge challenges we answered these calls on average in 24 seconds and non-emergency calls in an average of two minutes and 35 seconds.

"This has only been possible through our staff working long shifts on what should be their days off. "

"I am really worried that the number of 999 calls we received which are not emergencies will stop someone getting through who is in genuine trouble.

"Please only use 999 in a real emergency. Wherever possible use the online system."

It comes as the force received 1,106 reprots of Covid-19 breaches last weekend alone - a 25 per cent increase on the previous one.

Of the 1,106 reports of COVID breaches to 540 of those were reports of house gatherings and parties and 48 reports of licensed premises breaching the restrictions. Officers attended 40 of these reports which led to 10 arrests and 11 Fixed Penalty Notices being issued.

Police are now warning people not to attend these events which they said carry a "significant risk" of transmitting the virus.