CONCERNS about response time when crimes are reported were raised with the Police Community Consultative Group.

While police were pleased to report the speedy answering of 999 calls - 90 per cent are answered in less than 10 seconds - questioners were more concerned with the time taken to follow them up.

At the meeting at Priory Lodge Hall, Malvern, on Thursday, one man told of his neighbour's frustration when he reported witnessing a break-in at a school.

His call to the police, while the crime was taking place on a Friday evening, was answered promptly but no police turned up at the scene until Monday morning.

Barry Knibb, a Malvern Wells parish councillor, raised a related issue. Initial calls to the police about incidents, he said, were answered quickly but it was afterwards, when calls were transferred to another station or police department, that the problems started.

"Sometimes the department you're passed on to doesn't answer and the call just rings out until eventually you give up," said Mr Knibb.

Superintendent John Jones said new telephone systems were helping to improve communications and apologised for the slow response to some incidents.

"We don't always get to incidents quickly enough," he said.

Around 60 people attended the PCCG meeting, many representatives of local Neigh-bourhood Watch groups.

Other issues raised included young people, drugs, alcohol and truancy, problems with travellers, the lack of a visible police presence on the streets and police communication with Neighbourhood Watch groups.

Any discussion of on-street parking was ruled out at the start of the meeting, a large part of which was given over to reports from the police about call handling and police force reorganisation.