TELEPHONE callers to Lancashire Police will soon have press-button options to contend with -- similar to those used in call centre queues.

The changes, for all non-emergency calls, will be made to help people get through to a police operator who has knowledge of the area the call is being made from.

All 999 calls will continue to have priority.

The overhaul will coincide with the introduction of a uniform number for all non-emergency calls throughout the whole of Lancashire.

The new number has been chosen, but has not been made public knowledge yet.

Dale Allen, head of the communication centre for Lancashire Constabulary told a Police Authority Community meeting on Monday night: "When I took over this position 13 months ago we probably struggled to get through to your call and that was indefensible. We were grossly unable to field those calls up until a few months ago."

Mr Allen said the main reason for the force being unable to cope with the number of calls was the public, mainly men, calling 999 on their mobile phones without knowing.

This problem had been solved, said Mr Allen, by a call screening system. This means if a 999 call is made from a mobile phone the caller is asked to press the # key twice to get through to an operator.

This new system, pioneered in Lancashire and now used throughout the country, meant the number of mobile phone calls to emergency operators dropped from around 600 per day to around 120 per day.

"There is now real improvements in that area," Mr Allen said.

Lancashire Constabulary handles around 7,800 calls a day which tallies to half a million a year.