The time it takes each police force in the UK to answer emergency 999 calls has been published for the first time ever.

Out of 43 forces, Kent ranks in the lower half - coming 33rd in terms of speediness.

In total, 67% of calls are answered within 10 seconds, while 7% are picked up after a minute.

On average across the UK, police forces receive a 999 call every three seconds.

The target is to answer within the target of under 10 seconds - the national average stands at 16.1.

The data, released by the Home Office today, covers calls made between November 2021 and the end of April 2022.

With considerable variation across the country, the government hopes the new information will "empower all forces to bring their service up to the public’s expectations".

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Calling 999 can literally be a matter of life and death.

"The public deserve to know that their local police force will be at the end of the phone, ready to leap into action at seconds’ notice to protect them from harm.

“Fundamentally, publishing this data is about driving up standards in our incredible emergency services even further, so that the public can have every confidence in the police’s ability to save lives and keep our streets safe."

The best performing force is Avon and Somerset, which consistently answers more than 90% of its 999 calls in under 10 seconds.

The Home Office says prank calls, a lag time in connecting and inappropriate use of 999 to call for issues that are not emergencies, can all contribute to delays in answering.

The lag time, between dialling 999 and being connected to a call-handler, can be up to seven seconds in some areas. Some police forces are already reviewing their telephony systems and working with BT to resolve this.

Statistics show that Humberside is the worst performing police force in answering within 10 seconds.

While Kent is 33rd on the list, the county's neighbours are higher up the ranking. Surrey is 11th, Sussex 12th, Essex 19th and the Met 30th.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said: “We know that most people will call the police in their time of need, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case and I would like to remind people to only call 999 in a genuine emergency.

“There is a huge amount of pressure put on call-handlers, who work tireless to provide the right support and advice in someone’s time of need, but we are far too often seeing some from within our society, inappropriately using 999."

"Whilst we do not set targets for answering calls, we recognise that any wait of more than a few seconds can be distressing for the person on the other end of the line."

Chief Superintendent Mark Nottage, head of crime and incident response, said: "Kent Police received 140,065 calls to the emergency 999 number between November 2021 and April 2022, and it is pleasing to note that the majority of these were answered within 10 seconds.

"Whilst we do not set targets for answering calls, we recognise that any wait of more than a few seconds can be distressing for the person on the other end of the line.

"We therefore seek to answer every call as soon as possible whilst also providing a high level of service to those members of the public we are already speaking with.

"One thing people can do to help reduce waiting times is to only call 999 in a genuine emergency, as poorly considered calls put unnecessary strain on the system and may put people at risk.

"The quickest way to report non-emergencies to us is by visiting www.kent.police.uk and either completing an online form or speaking to a member of staff via the live chat button.

"We are also currently recruiting for new call-handlers to join our Force Control Room to ensure the public continue to receive the best possible service, which should also result in a reduction in waiting times.

"Anyone interested in applying should visit the careers section of our website for more information.

"Every contact we receive is important to us, whether by phone or other means, and we remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities and keeping them safe from harm."