- Lincolnshire Police has the fastest call response time in the UK at 7 seconds  - Derbyshire Constabulary is in sixth place, with an average response time of 8.06 seconds  - Bedfordshire Police has the slowest call response time at an astonishing 30.33 seconds 

New research has revealed the police forces in the UK with the fastest and slowest call response times, with Lincolnshire Police landing at the top of the list and Bedfordshire ranking at the bottom. 

Personal injury experts at Claims.co.uk gathered data on the average time it takes for a call to be transferred to each police force in the UK from March 2023 to February 2024; the mean answer time for each month was weighted to calculate the final average and determine the ranking. 

Lincolnshire Police take the top spot in the ranking with the fastest call response time, which is an average of seven seconds. The quickest response time within this police force was in January of this year, when the average was just 5.34 seconds. 

In second place is Norfolk Constabulary, with the average call response time being 7.16 seconds; the mean answer time for each month is under eight seconds. 

Ranking third is West Yorkshire Police, with an average call response time of 7.65 seconds. In January this year, West Yorkshire Police experienced the fastest mean answer time of 5.22 seconds, the quickest of the top five ranking forces. 

In fourth place is Cleveland Police, whose average call response time is 7.75 seconds. Cleveland Police witnessed their quickest mean answer time in March 2023 at 6.91 seconds. 

In fifth place is Greater Manchester Police, with the force's average call response time being 7.88 seconds; the mean answer time for each month is under ten seconds. 

A spokesperson from Claims.co.uk said: "The time it takes for the police to respond to a 999 call is crucial – the longer the caller waits, the higher the risk of harm and danger to the individual. While it's great to see that the average call response time for the top ranking forces is under ten seconds, those that rank at the bottom will likely be concerning to locals.

"However, the slowest response times should not instigate doubt on the perseverance and effort of police forces throughout the UK, as it instead suggests that the bottom-ranking forces are understaffed; these areas perhaps need more funding so that they can offer as much support as possible to residents of their areas."