THE Sussex Police Non-Emergency Contact Centre abandoned 187 calls a day on average last year, The Argus can reveal.

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information legislation show that the contact centre missed a total of 68,404 calls between January and December.

The 101 number is used by people who want to report non-emergency crimes such as theft or to report suspicious behaviour.

Sussex Police receives more than 1,250 non-emergency calls each day but figures show that the centre didn’t meet its target of answering 75 per cent of calls on time for each month during 2016.

Councillor Emma Daniel, who sits on Brighton and Hove’s police and crime panel, said: “I am concerned with the figures on answering 101 and I have questioned the police and crime commissioner twice about this on behalf of residents.

“Katy Bourne told councillors on the police and crime panel on both the occasions I questioned her on this performance that she didn’t believe there should be any target for answering 101 calls which I felt was a complacent response disregarding the impact on our communities.

“I disagree strongly with the commissioner on removing this issue and I believe residents would want the targets to answer 101 calls in place and that she is at least trying to ensure they are met.

“Every service has its problems with the cuts to the public sector, but this was a twelve month period and warnings and questions from councillors were ignored.

“Residents will expect urgent action and reassurance that the calls will be answered promptly going forward.

“The budget was underspent last year. That money should have been used to make sure that 101 call handling was improved.”

The month with the worst performance last year was September with a total of 10,030 calls missed - a 31.7 per cent performance rate.

Sussex Police’s official force rating fell from good last year to requires improvement this year after making £76 million of budget savings.

The £3 million raised by an increase in the police precept was planned to be used for the police and crime commissioner’s priorities, such as more firearms officers and domestic abuse officers.

Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne said she would still encourage people to use 101 for non-emergencies, but she understands why people get frustrated with waiting, causing them to hang up.

Mrs Bourne said: “I fully support the ambition of Sussex Police and other forces for maximising efficiency in call handling and crime reporting channels.

“However, Sussex Police need to improve their 101 performance if the public are to have any confidence.

“The rate of abandoned calls in Sussex in July was 25 per cent higher this year and waiting times are up. This is unacceptable.

“For most people, the 101 service is their first experience of dealing with the police so I want to ensure genuine callers feel welcome and valued when they dial in.”

Mrs Bourne will be publicly questioning the chief constable on 101 handling and other issues at the performance and accountability meeting on September 15.