Police keep caller waiting one hour and 41 minutes as she tries to report a drug deal
By the time the handler replied, Lynette had finished her walk, cooked dinner and checked the details of the dealers’ car
POLICE kept a caller waiting one hour and 41 minutes as she tried to report a drug deal.
Lynette Marsden, 30, rang 101 after seeing three men exchanging bags of cocaine for a “wodge of cash”.
The engineer, who was walking her dogs in the park with boyfriend Ed Speller, 31, kept her phone on speaker until a handler with the non-emergency service replied 101 minutes later.
By then, Lynette had finished her walk, cooked dinner, prepared packed lunches for the next day and checked the MoT and details of the dealers’ car.
Lynette, from Northampton, said: “I know the police are stretched, but I was stood watching these men passing around baggies of cocaine.
“I could have given them all the information they needed — reg numbers, descriptions — but by the time I got through they were probably long gone.”
Local councillor Brian Oldham said: “This isn’t acceptable. The Police and Crime Commissioner and police need to look at it.”
Police said: “A crime in progress should always be reported by calling 999.
“The 101 service is for non-urgent crimes which are not as time critical.”
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