FRUSTRATED callers who can't get through to Chorley Police Station could soon find their problem put on hold.

Irritated locals have vented their fury at the police because their calls -- which divert from Chorley station to the Hutton communications centre -- are not answered immediately, and often, callers get cut off.

But Lancashire Police say the main cause of the delays has been the sheer volume of emergency calls -- from mobile phones.

And because emergency and non-emergency calls are answered by the same staff, non-urgent calls are kept waiting as emergencies take priority.

But the problem could soon be resolved.

Divisional commander Paul Harry said: "When 999 calls are made from ordinary (landline) phones across Lancashire they go to the nearest communications centre. The problem we have is with mobile calls -- because until now the mobile companies have been unable to direct the calls to the right centre.

"So at Hutton we have been swamped with 999 calls from mobile phones all over Lancashire -- instead of them going to the nearest centre.

"The mobile phone companies are now starting to direct the calls into the right communications centres, so this will relieve the workload burden for our southern division communications room."

Mr Harry added that staff -- though experienced -- are also getting to grips with the new technology at the new Hutton centre.

And they are working more flexible shift patterns to combat peak times in the numbers of calls.