Don't miss a thing by getting the latest from the Manchester Evening News sent direct to your inbox Greater Manchester Police has drafted in neighbourhood officers to answer 999 calls, it has emerged.
The force has blamed a sudden spike in demand over the weekend and appealed for people only to call in a genuine emergency. But force insiders say GMP - severely criticised in a watchdog report which cost Ian Hopkins his job as chief constable in December - is currently a 'disaster' with not enough cops and so many officers tied up on special projects or bureaucracy that it cannot cope.
The force revealed it had to respond to more than 3,500 calls this weekend, more than half of them on Saturday when officers also had to deal with a major
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