A FORMAL complaint about difficulties in getting in touch with the police via a new centralised switchboard has resulted in a response from the chief constable.

Paul Garvin has invited members of Teesdale Crime Prevention Panel to the communications centre at Bishop Auckland to see for themselves how calls are dealt with.

The complaints were made after panel member, Coun Margaret Hamilton, was unable to get a police response when faced with a volatile constituent. She rang the call centre at 9pm but received no response until 10.30 the next morning. This prompted other members to quote examples of a poor response.

The chairman, Coun Peter Stubbs, a founder member of the pioneering Farm Watch scheme, said there had been quite a few teething problems.

"It's upset a lot of people who've been ringing in with information," he added. "When we were ringing Barnard Castle, they knew what we were talking about. We were never let down by our local police. But it's been suicide since calls were transferred to Bishop. It gives criminals a ten-minute start."

Insp Kevin Tuck said they were still determined to provide a good service, and desperately wanted communications to work properly.

He told how Raby Estates was concerned that a lot of farmers would ring gamekeepers as a first line of support.

"We are going to have a meeting with gamekeepers and some high-ranking members in communications," he added, admitting they had to make the communications process smoother and more efficient. There was also a need to raise awareness within the communications room of rural issues and he hoped the planned meeting would help that process.

Peter Atkinson said this was necessary, saying they were "not country-wise at Bishop" and did not seem to understand the scale of the rural area.

Coun Stubbs said even before the transfer, if members of Farm Watch rang Bishop Auckland, they never got satisfactory answers.

"We got the impression they thought we were just a bunch of country yokels," he added.

Insp Tuck was keen to point out that rural crime was not being treated as a lower priority.

"We are committed to providing a quality service to everybody," he said. "Some of the problems being experienced with communications are not just rural. There have been IT problems. But there is a drive and commitment to put things right as soon as possible."