POLICE are urging the public to think twice before calling them over the festive season.

The Dorset force is currently recruiting staff and changing shift patterns in a bid to address delays to answering calls to its 101 service.

But officers have stressed there are still too many inappropriate calls made and asked people to consider whether the call is a police matter and whether the Do It Online service could be used.

Last December, more 34,000 calls to 101 were received in the Dorset Police Force Command Centre.

And this summer Dorset Police ran a six week campaign in a bid to reduce call waiting times.

A ‘Do it Online’ service was introduced making it easier and faster to make an enquiry or report an incident online, and examples of the calls received that are not police matters were published.

Calls included someone complaining that their mum wouldn't give them any money, another asking for directions to B&Q and another asking for help with a crossword.

Others wanted to report a deer on the beach, with someone also calling the police as they hadn't been paid from their call centre job.

Dorset Police Operations Manager for Contact Management, Kevin Sargent said: “Call handlers work extremely hard answering call after call, politely and helpfully.

“We know that at times there are queues, particularly at our peak times between 4pm and 7pm, and we are working to address this. We are constantly recruiting new staff and are about to introduce new shift patterns to reduce waiting times.

“Please carefully consider whether your call is something the police can help with, before picking up the phone.

“For every call we are dealing with that is not a police matter, someone else who needs police assistance has to wait.

"Thank you in advance for your co-operation during this busy festive period.”

Follow Dorset Police’s Christmas campaign on social media at #AllWrappedUp.