A councillor who gave up on a 101 call to police after waiting "more than half an hour" has requested more information on response times.

Cllr Jim Sinnott, whose portfolio at Warwick District Council includes community safety, said the efficiency of 101 was "at the front of minds for all our residents", describing it as "a hot topic" with the information needed to provide "clarity and confidence".

He cited figures provided by the office of Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Seccombe that said Warwickshire Police handles 485 calls to 101 on a typical day, asking when the clock starts and stops in working out average wait times.

Backlogs on 101 have been a bone of contention for Warwickshire Police in the past but that the force's data suggests they are improving. 

"I called last weekend, for two to three minutes I was triaged – press five for this, press four for that," said Cllr Sinnott.

"From there I sat on the phone for more than half an hour and I didn't actually get through in the end. It turned out to be a very serious matter, with hindsight."

Mr Seccombe replied: "I am not an expert on the exact timing and how it goes through but what I do know is that on a comparative basis, 12-18 months ago the average time for a call to be answered was about four minutes. It is now about a minute. 

"That is an average, there are longer (waits), I know, but there are quicker (answer times) as well. 

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"To be honest, if yours was a very serious matter you might have dialled 999 and you'd have got a much quicker response, within 10 seconds. I accept that sometimes you don't know whether it is serious or not.

"If a crime is being committed, everybody must dial 999. The 101 line is principally to report an incident that is not ongoing, that took place earlier or the day before. 

"The 101 system is national and it is a bit clunky. A lot of the delays are down to British Telecom (BT), it takes time to get it through to the right control room.

"We still get an awful lot of pocket calls or wrong numbers, they clog up the system, so we are trying to make it as easy as possible so everyone understands the difference between 999 and 101 and there are still improvements to be made." 

Emma Daniell, Mr Seccombe's deputy, added more detail.

"The initial point to triage, there is a stop point, but we also interrogate how long that person is then waiting again for further contact," she said.

"Through our holding to account process, with the technology we have invested in that is in place within the control room, we can analyse and look at that, as well as the abandonment rate. 

"The force is also trying to look at what is contained in that abandonment rate, we are really interested in that part where you say you waited for 30 minutes."

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Chief executive of Mr Seccombe's office Polly Reed also encouraged Cllr Sinnott to raise the case for the chief constable to look at. 

Cllr Sinnott replied: "That's really reassuring but it does open up other questions.

"Could we ask for feedback at a future meeting, a breakdown of the time to triage, time to abandonment or final answer, to explore and understand what it actually means." 

Panel chair Andrew Davies said that the performance and planning group regularly looks at 101, adding: "That would be a good place to delve a bit deeper into what is going on and come back to the panel as needed – that's a good idea."