CALLERS were unable to get through to the Dorset Police non-emergency number after a major national fault.

There were problems with the Vodafone network, which runs lines for a number of national organisations, on Saturday.

As well as 101, the NHS 111 service, and companies such as RAC and First Great Western were also affected.

Vodafone said the issue was with a ‘fixed line call routing system’ and apologised for inconvenience caused.

The fault came as Dorset police chiefs said they were confident they are overcoming issues with the 101 number which lead to ‘unacceptable delays’ in response times this summer.

They said an unprecedented level of demand coincided with a restructuring process.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill and deputy chief constable James Vaughan now say they are confident those issues have been dealt with and there are signs that the system is working efficiently again.

Mr Vaughan told a meeting of the Dorset Police and Crime Panel that as part of a £1million savings initiative call handling staff from two sites were brought together at one facility at force headquarters in Winfrith.

He said this created a number of vacancies, with some staff unwilling to relocate and this happened at a time when the number was receiving thousands more calls a week.

Mr Vaughan said: “What we found during the summer was an unprecedented and unexpected surge of demand.

“We would normally expect to have about six to seven thousand calls to 101 in a week. At our peak in July we were having close to ten thousand in a week.”

He added that since the summer the level of demand was dropping off to normal levels and, as the staffing issues were also being resolved, the service was getting back to its previous levels of performance.

Mr Vaughan said: “The challenge for us it to make sure that when Easter and the summer demand kicks in next year we are more resilient.”

Mr Underhill said in recent weeks he had been receiving positive feedback on the 101 service.

He said: “For the first time I’m dealing with good feedback now.

“I have had excellent feedback in he last six weeks.

“We are coming out of the crevasse and performance is improving.”

Responding to concerns raised by the panel, Mr Underhill added that there was still a need to educate some members of the public about when to use the non emergency number and when to dial 999.

He said: “There clearly is a misunderstanding about 101 and 999, I think there is an issue there.”

THE 101 non-emergency number was launched in September 2011 and members of the public are urged to use the service to report less urgent crime and disorder or to speak to their local officers.

People are urged to use the number to give police information about crime in their area or to speak to police about a general enquiry.

Other examples of when people should call 101 are if their car has been stolen, if property has been damaged, if they suspect drug dealing in the local area or to report a minor traffic accident.

In an emergency members of the public are always advised to dial 999.