STAFF at a hi-tech police communications centre in Burnley are making sure that calls are dealt with as quickly as possible.

The centre, in Parker Lane, covers the Pennine Division area and fields calls from Burnley to Barnoldswick and all the places in-between.

When the call centre was opened two years ago, replacing localised centres in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, residents voiced concerns about a possible loss of local knowledge.

But staff at the centre said the figures for response times show those fears were unfounded.

When an emergency call is logged by operators 94 per cent of the incidents have a police presence within 15 minutes.

The centre dealt with 392,000 calls last year -- 42,650 of them 999 calls. Two thirds of calls are answered on the first ring.

Inspector Andy Proctor is responsible for marshalling 80 staff who work on a rotating shift pattern 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Insp Proctor said: "The figures prove that we are responding to every call. I love this job.

"It can be frustrating and at times it is very hard, but we have got a lot of good people here, which is one of the best things about the job.

"There is still a lot of people who work here that have a significant amount of local knowledge.

"There was an imputation that local knowledge would be lost when we formed as a central operating room, but the figures show we are responding quickly.

"We definitely provide a better service now.

"Local knowledge will always be an issue, but the system is getting better and better all the time and the number of complaints we get has fallen."

When a call is received information from the caller is keyed into the computer system instantly.

That information is used by staff at the centre to relay vital details to the police on the streets.

Detailed maps can be called up on screens and geographical intelligence deployed to officers. The maps also show where officers are walking the beat and how far they are away from an incident.

Operators can also contact the CCTV operators and ask them to direct the cameras at a specific area. This can help police gather vital evidence before officers arrive. It can also receive live pictures from Lancashire Constabulary helicopters.

As well as handling real emergencies, staff in the communications room have to deal with some less pressing calls.

Last year staff said they took a call from a man who could not get his Christmas turkey into his oven, one from a concerned parent who could not get his 13-year-old daughter out of bed and another from someone who was having difficulty dealing with a broken lift.

In December one person made 146 false calls to the communications room and a prosecution is imminent.

But it's all in a day's work for the operators who are proud of their performance. As one said, "Any other call centre would love our response times."