Dorset Police blames spike in 999 calls on influx of visitors

Thousands of extra visitors have been visiting resorts such as Bournemouth during the summer

High numbers of visitors to seaside resorts in Dorset has been blamed by police for a spike in 999 calls.

Restrictions on overseas travel because of the coronavirus pandemic combined with hot weather, have seen thousands of extra people visit the county.

Dorset Police said this has resulted in more anti-social behaviour, as well as parking issues and car crashes.

The force said the rise in calls to its control room during some of the hottest days in the summer had been "enormous".

Assistant Chief Constable Sam De Reya said officers had been placed under "considerable pressure"

Assistant Chief Constable Sam de Reya, said the increase had created "significant pressure" for officers.

"The levels of [anti-social behaviour] and public order offences are entirely unacceptable and cannot go unchallenged," she said.

"Drink-related issues have been particularly prevalent and I would ask our resident communities and visitors to know their limits and act responsibly."

The force said overall crime rates were down year-on-year in July and August by 4% - but there had been an increase of almost 15% in reports of public order offences.

It also highlighted a 63% increase in environmental anti-social behaviour - such as littering, fly-tipping and wild camping - which took up 205 hours of police time during that two-month period.

Roads packed with car queuing to reach beaches were also cited by police as a problem

Ms De Reya said roads in the area were expected to be busy ahead of the bank holiday weekend and urged visitors to plan ahead.

She added: "We appreciate for much of our tourism economy the bank holiday brings the opportunity to try and recover revenue lost during lockdown earlier this year.

"We want to support that, but the public must help themselves by observing Covid-19 safety measures and behaving respectfully."

In June, a "major incident" was declared across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole because of the volume of people on the beaches.

More recently, visitors were urged to go home when car parks filled up from early morning following forecasts for warm weather.