Recent data released from police.co.uk and analysed by accident compensation specialists, claims.co.uk, has ranked Avon and Somerset Constabulary among the UK police forces with the fastest response times to emergency calls.

Based on the weighted average time taken to answer calls over the past year, Avon and Somerset Constabulary stands out among the police forces, with an average response time of just 8.32 seconds.

This quick response placed the constabulary in the fifth spot in the rankings of the fastest response times among all UK police forces. They sit behind Nottinghamshire Police (8.88 seconds), Dyfed-Powys Police (8.89 seconds), Northamptonshire Police (8.31 seconds) and North Wales Police (7.78 seconds), the latter being the fastest.

The Avon and Somerset Constabulary managed to answer 309,346 emergency calls over the last year with remarkable speed. This rapid response time ensures that the residents of Avon and Somerset receive timely assistance in emergency situations.

The study, however, does highlight the disparity between the fastest and slowest responders. With an average time of 36.10 seconds over the past year, Bedfordshire Police statistically take the longest amount of time to answer emergency calls. The police force also have the highest percentage of calls answered at 60 seconds or longer (20.56%).  

Gloucestershire Constabulary not only had the fewest calls but ranked in second for the longest time taken for police services to answer emergency calls. The force also has the third-highest percentage of calls answered at 60 seconds or more with 14.1%.  

Although the Metropolitan Police Service have by far the greatest number of total calls, they ranked in third for the average time taken to answer an emergency phone call (25.47 seconds). The MPS is also unfortunately high on the list of services (fifth) that answer a greater percentage of their calls after a minute or more (11.46%).  

A representative from claims.co.uk said: "Thousands of emergency calls are made each year. This research offers a fascinating insight into how quickly every UK police department answers those calls. Even the constabularies with the slowest emergency answer times tend to answer calls as quickly as possible, which only bodes well for the people they promise to serve and protect."