Lothian police fastest to react in 999 emergencies

POLICE in Lothian have emerged top of the table for emergency response times.

The Lothian and Borders force responded to 94.3 per cent of 999 calls within the target time in 2009/10 - better than any other force.

Altogether it received 13,917 999 calls, down from 14,172 the previous year, and 95.3 per cent were answered within ten seconds, compared to the Scottish average of 94.7 per cent.

Liberal Democrats have asked Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to investigate the "postcode lottery" on police responses to emergency calls after figures showed a wide variation between forces.

Justice spokesman Robert Brown said: "The public need to have confidence that when they dial 999 for the police, the call will be answered straight away and their calls for help will be responded to quickly."