Trader unhappy with 999 response (From Gazette & Herald)

Trader unhappy with 999 response

SALES assistants who dialled 999 after a theft in a Pickering shop were shocked when police failed to turn up for two hours.

Fiona Vance, 29, works at the Pickering Antique Centre with colleague Josie Gascoyne. They noticed that a cabinet had been moved and jewellery taken from it at 3.15pm on December 12, and immediately dialled the emergency services and waited for police to attend.

But by the time they locked up for the night at 5.15pm, no one had shown up.

Fiona's mother, Christina Vance, who owns the store, said: "I was appalled by this lack of response. Although they were shaken by the incident, thankfully the staff were none-the-worse."

In a second incident on Christmas Eve, the window of the antiques centre was smashed by vandals, and again Mrs Vance was disappointed with the response. "The police did respond quickly and were soon on the scene. However, I was informed they were short-staffed and I do feel that on one of the busiest nights of the year that is bad management," she said.

"They came to my house to make a statement, but I feel their time would have been better spent on the streets. We are a small town, with only a handful of streets to police, but how much of this petty crime and vandalism do we have to put up with?"

It is the third time in six years that the window has been smashed. Mrs Vance added: "I feel worried every weekend that it's going to happen again and I just don't feel secure."

Insp Neil Burnett, Ryedale area commander, said of the first incident: "Because there was no suspect seen and there wasn't an incident happening as we spoke, we wouldn't treat it as an immediate priority for response.

"We would get to the incident as soon as possible but there was a slight delay on the part of the force control room in notifying officers here on the ground in Ryedale and they didn't attend until 5.15pm, when the staff had gone home. A note was left and an officer returned the next day."

He added: "It is a little bit disappointing that we missed Mrs Vance on that day and I'm sorry she was left disappointed. However, it hasn't hindered our investigation into the offence, as the next day we were able to speak to the trader who owned the antique in question and get a much fuller picture."

He said that the attendance was within normal policy for the type of call, adding: "Our difficulty is that Mrs Vance had been left with the expectation by the control room that we would be attending immediately, and there was in fact some delay."

Of the incident on Christmas Eve, he said: "We were not short-staffed, we were very busy, there is a difference between the two. Christmas Eve is one of the busiest nights of the year for us."

Updated: 15:49 Wednesday, January 11, 2006