“HELLO, police? I’ve lost my tortoise.”

That’s just one of the many nuisance calls still being received by Dorset Police’s 101 command centre every day.

The service receives around 8,500 calls per week - approximately 1,200 calls per day – and a large percentage of those are not police matters, according to the force.

The biggest problem faced by the command centre, it claims, is callers who turn to the police when other agencies are closed or no longer running.

Calls made to Dorset Police in September included a duck with a broken leg, a shop having the wrong price on a bottle of vodka and someone who was having trouble going to the toilet.

The calls were made despite a summer campaign issued by the force which encouraged people to think before they call.

Kevin Sargeant, operations manager at the command centre, said: “Call handlers work extremely hard answering call after call, politely and helpfully. We know that there are queues, particularly at our peak times between 4 and 7pm and we are making progress to address that. We are constantly recruiting new staff and are about to introduce new shift patterns to help reduce waiting times.

“The public can help us by remembering that for every call we are dealing with that is not a police matter, we are not answering a genuine call for assistance.”

Since its introduction in 2011, 101 call handling has been subject to public criticism around call response times and system failures.

But Dorset Police has taken steps to improve the service, with various campaigns and the introduction of a new website.

The website, launched in June, has a Do It Online section which offers a range of services, advice and help online with the aim of giving people a quicker and easier alternative to calling 101.

Acting Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, Colin Pipe, said: “The 101 team regularly receives inappropriate and non-police related calls and it is vital members of the public contact the correct agency for their query.

“We have introduced a range of services online, available through the Dorset Police website, to help reduce demand on the system and the commissioner continues to monitor the force on call handling performance.

“I have recently set up a 101 Service Improvement Panel which will play an important role in identifying processes which may be capable of improvement.”

Calls made to Dorset Police: I need a doctor

I need smoke alarm batteries as they have run out

Can you call my bank and tell them I want some money as I have nothing in my account

A cat has moved in to my home can I report it?

I work in a call centre and have not been paid yet

I haven't eaten in four days and need food

There is a deer on the beach

Can a satellite repair man come and fix a dish?