Sidmouth: Police urge public to only contact them 'where absolutely necessary' amid high demand

Devon and Cornwall Police have asked the public only to contact them where 'absolutely necessary' due to high demand.

The force has warned that online crime reports and emails to 101, the non-emergency contact, could take up to seven days to process.

It also said that it would focus on responding to emergencies.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "The Force Contact Centre is currently experiencing high demand across all emergency and non-emergency contacts. There are also a high level of COVID-19 absences at present.

"As a result of this, online crime reports and emails to 101 may take up to 7 days to be processed. Webchat may at times be unavailable and wait times for 101 calls are at increased levels.

"As all our contact officers deal with email, crime reports, webchat 101 calls and 999 we urge the public to only contact where absolutely necessary whilst we focus responding to emergencies.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and please rest assured we are trying our absolute best to deal with incidents as quickly as possible.

"Thank you for your understanding."

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