Lib Dem councillors are calling on Haringey’s police force to take steps to ensure calls from the public are answered swiftly. The move follows a report from one Crouch End resident who repeatedly failed to get through to the police after reporting a break in.

A local resident of Shepherds Hill called the police after a break-in at his garage.When he called the local police station, having looked up the number in Thompson’s directory, the phone just rang and rang without answer, or without even switching over to an answering machine.

When the resident called a second time, he finally got through after half an hour on hold. The police said they would send someone round to his home, but then more than 24 hours passed before anyone finally appeared.

The resident said: “When you get a response like this, how can the police expect people to report incidents? You can see why people are put off, even though I know that’s not the right attitude and the public should always report a crime.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem leader and crime spokesperson, comments: “This is one worrying consequence of the pressure on police numbers, but we really must have the public dealt with immediately when they call the police. I will be asking Chief Supt Stephen James what measures he will be taking to ensure that police inquiry lines are sufficiently resourced.”