A Somerset man who rang the non-emergency police number to report a crime says he was kept waiting for two hours without getting a response.

Stuart Haskins, chairman of West Monkton Parish Council, spotted the former Land Rover garage on Bridgwater Road in Monkton Heathfield had been broken into while out walking on the evening of June 27.

He rang 101 – the non-urgent police number – to report the incident, but received no response after two hours on the line.

The incident came to light at a meeting of Somerset West and Taunton Council’s community scrutiny committee held at the council’s Taunton headquarters on Wednesday evening (June 29).

Councillor Ray Tully, whose West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine ward includes the Monkton Heathfield urban extension, relayed the story to police chief inspector Justin French and inspector Mike Griffiths.

He said: “When our parish council chairman went past it the day before yesterday [June 27], the alarm was going off. He checked around and realised the door had been broken into, and someone had obviously gone in and done damage inside.

“He then rang 101 – he said he was kept on the phone for nearly two hours, and didn’t get an answer. This is the chairman of a council. What is the point of ringing?

“What is the use of having these services if no one is going to answer the phone? The alternative is they dial 999 and put there someone who shouldn’t be going out to it.

“We’re one of the largest parish councils in the county, and are getting bigger every year. If people feel they can’t get to you to make a complaint, they’re not going to do it.”

Somerset County Gazette: Councillor Ray Tally (West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine).Councillor Ray Tally (West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine).

Mr Tully also took the opportunity to complain about the lack of police officers attending parish council meetings – claiming that no officer or PCSO had attended a West Monkton meeting for an entire decade.

He said: “We used to have at first a police officer and then a PCSO who would come to every one of our parish council meetings, and we understood that they couldn’t always make it.

“The last time we saw a police officer or PCSO at one of our meetings was ten years ago. We haven’t met one since – not even coming in the door to say ‘Hello, I am…’ and go.”

Officers from Avon and Somerset Constabulary have apologised for the lack of response and urged the public to use 999 if they believe a crime is in progress.

Mr French apologised to Mr Tully at the meeting, stating: “That shouldn’t have happened”, and went on to explain how the police responded to calls made to the 101 service.

He said: "People think: ‘if I ring 101, I’ll give the police the benefit of the doubt, because they’re out there working hard’.

"If you feel there’s a crime in action, it’s 999. They’re serviced by the same operator, 101 and 999 – the only difference is the risk assessment put around it.

"If you feel there’s a crime in action, then we need to get there, we need to get it logged and risk assessed, and there’s various ways we can find out what’s happened with that particular address."

Mr French said he wanted his officers to spend time speaking to community figures and attending council meetings, but said that the current demands on policing did not make this an effective use of officer time.

He said: "Our demand profile doesn’t give us that gift.

"The days of a police officer sat with you for an hour – ideally I’d want that, because there’s intelligence out there, there’s stuff to be shared – we’re driven by data.

"If my officers have sat and had a cup of coffee for an hour, in the current climate there would be questions in relation to that.

"I will rectify the situation and we will get some process in place."

Inspector Mike Griffiths added: "We can definitely do better than once every ten years.

"All the parish councils should be getting a newsletter – if you’re not getting that, I can only apologise for that.

"We’re not always visible, but we should always be at least accessible."