Humberside Police have spoken about the benefits of their new 101 call back system, saying it's helped field 48 per cent more emergency and non-emergency calls.

The system means callers to the non-emergency 101 number have the option of getting a call back rather than waiting on hold in a queue - meaning those wishing to report a crime are less likely to hang up.

Hull man John Green complained earlier this week the service called him back on a withheld number , which he wasn't able to answer as his phone doesn't accept them.

Chris Philpott, head of contact management for the 999 and 101 call centre for Humberside Police , explained this should not be the case and the system has seen great success - but some "teething problems" will need addressing as it was only introduced three weeks ago.

He said the new way of working will help deal with an increased volume of calls when the staffing level remains the same.

He said: "Nationally, the service has seen about a 20 per cent increase in 999 calls, which is huge.

"It's the same people who take 999 calls that take 101 calls, so you have to put your people into those calls, which impacts on the 101 service delivery.

"It's the right thing to do because they are emergencies, but it does mean that there can be less resources for 101 which is not good.

"With any new system, especially with new technology, you have a few teething problems to get over. We have been working really hard to do this.

"There isn't a precedent for this, we don't believe there is another force doing this so we are really at the cutting edge, and we are doing it to address the problem of the increased contact that the service is seeing nationally."

Chris explained the system works by giving callers the option to get a call back to their phone from the handler rather than waiting in a queue.

He said the time of the call back would be the exact same length as waiting in the queue - it just means the caller doesn't have to sit on hold.

The system confirms the number the caller would like to be contacted back on, and if the caller does not answer, they are tried three times or an answer message is left.

He said: "Callers get less frustrated and don't hang up, it improves their experience and the contact officers experience.

"Our officers are not faced with people who have had lengthy waits, because they haven't had a lengthy wait they aren't angry."

Chris added the new system was implemented to help the rise in call volume without needing to employ a vast amount more people.

The process to employ call handlers and train them takes 26 weeks.

He said before the system was implemented, call handlers were taking on average 1,200 - 1,300 calls per day at the beginning of the year.

With the new system, 1,800 can be answered and overall, Chris said the force can speak to 48 per cent more callers per day.

"We have 88 staff members in there currently and we have 16 people in training at the moment - that's going to help us even more," he said.

"It's very much an improving picture.

"It's one of a number of things that we are doing. We are employing more staff but we are also making sure we are utilising technology so we are making sure we don't just have to spend money on staff."