MORE than 60,000 calls to Gwent Police’s 101 service went unanswered in the last two years, according to new figures.

In all, 64,542 callers hung up while using the 101 non-emergency service during 2018 and 2019, figures released following a Freedom of Information Act request from Newport's Conservative group have revealed.

Around one-in-five calls to the service were abandoned in 2018 - 42,169 out of 219,597.

In 2019, the service received 215,256 calls, of which 21,178 went unanswered - around one-in-10.

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Newport Conservative Group leader Cllr Matthew Evans said Gwent Police must do more to lower the number of abandoned calls.

“I have great respect for the hard-working staff based in the Gwent Police Control Room, however the Police Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert has some serious questions to answer over the statistics revealed in this FOI,” he said.

“The public deserve a better service, it’s very concerning.

“Only last month, the front counter opening times hours at the city’s biggest Police Station (Newport Central) were cut, so it is even more vital that all calls to the 101 line are captured.”

The figures also show the average waiting time for a call on the 101 line was down from two minutes and 32 seconds in 2018, to two minutes and two seconds in 2019.

“We regularly review all demands for our 101 non-emergency service and have made improvements in our call waiting time and call abandonment rate," said Superintendent Vicki Townsend, of Gwent Police.

“A dedicated Social Media Desk was introduced in December 2018 in the Force Control Room, to allow people to report non-urgent crimes or get advice online via Facebook and Twitter.

“A growing number of people are making contact with us through social media - 190,000 messages were received by the Social Media Desk in 2019.

“We are committed to ensuring that our communities are at the heart of everything we do, and we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve our service to the public to become more efficient and most importantly, accessible.

“Gwent Police continues to receive a significant number of inquiries via 101 that are not appropriate.

“We would urge members of the public to think carefully about the most appropriate place for their inquiry, so that our services are available around the clock to those who need it most.”

Within the first 60 seconds of a 101 call, information is played to callers which may cause a call to be abandoned - such as encouraging a caller to dial 999 in an emergency, or to visit the Gwent Police website for advice, information and support.

If a caller hangs up to follow this advice, these would be recorded as abandoned calls.

Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert said: “Gwent Police has invested in its force control room over the last year, decreasing the abandoned call rate to the 101 non-emergency line by almost 50 per cent and significantly reducing the average call waiting times.

“These improvements have been in the face of growing demand for the service and despite the fact that Gwent Police has had 40 per cent real term cuts in government funding since 2010.

“The force is also one of only a small number in the UK to introduce a dedicated social media desk, giving residents the opportunity to report non-urgent crimes online 24 hours a day.

“While we should never be complacent, I am reassured that Gwent Police is delivering an efficient service for its residents.”