HAMPSHIRE Police are considering drafting officers into the Force Enquiry Centre to improve the 101 phone number service, a meeting heard.

Winchester city councillors were discussing community safety and severalraised the issue of public complaints over the 101 non-emergency number.

Cllr Jamie Scott, who represents Stanmore where there are a lot of student-related issues, told the overview and scrutiny committee: “There is a lack of confidence in 101 in reporting crimes.”

Sgt Richard Holland, of North Walls Police Station, said: “We are encouraging people to use 101 but are finding there are problems. I know we are talking about putting more people into the Force Enquiry Centre. Some officers will come into the call centre to deal with calls.”

He said officers may be able to deal with calls over the phone rather than having officers deployed to incidents when not necessary, he told the committee.

“If officers are not required to deploy and it can be dealt with on the phone with reassurance then that is long-term savings,” he said.