URGENT meetings are being demanded by parish councillors after police were unable to respond to a 999 report of a person threatened with a knife in a West Somerset village.

Williton Parish Council heard the alleged crime happened near The Pavilion, in the recreation ground, on the same evening as a shooting in Minehead and a serious incident in Watchet.

Police were therefore unable to quickly send officers to Williton because there were not sufficient resources to cover all three incidents.

Councillors have raised concerns with MP Rachel Gilmour and Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Clare Moody and requested meetings ‘due to alarming increase in crime statistics’ and police ‘being under-resourced’.

A spokesperson for Mrs Gilmour said: “We are always deeply saddened by cases of anti-social behaviour anywhere in the constituency.

“Rachel is aware this is a pressing issue particularly felt in West Somerset and the Minehead area.

“We are happy to make representations to the PCC in relation to a meeting on this topic, and the team has extended an invitation to Williton Parish Council representatives to Rachel’s weekly surgery in Minehead to discuss this issue, and how we can best proceed for the benefit of the local community.”

The council did not receive a PCC response, so the Free Press has reached out to Ms Moody.

Police said officers attended the Williton incident about an hour later and spoke to a number of youths but did not find a knife.

The council was made aware of the alleged knife incident by Cllr Ian Aldridge, although he later said it appeared the ‘weapon’ might not have been a knife.

Cllr Aldridge said it was known police were struggling to answer all the calls they received, and there was currently a particular ongoing issue with ‘a few youths’ in the area.

He said: “Resources in this area we know are hopelessly thin, but we are lucky to live in a low crime area, so we know the resources are not going to be allocated.”

Neighbourhood Inspector Joe Piscina said: “Officers work closely with all our communities in West Somerset and are committed to building on these relationships.

“Rising demand and the increasing complexity of crime has meant we must prioritise the resources we have where the risk to the public is highest, and that does mean having to make difficult decisions every day.

“However, our teams locally are supported by specialist resources from across the force which we use to tackle specific issues and respond to incidents.

“These resources are targeted based on information provided to us by the public, so we always encourage people to report incidents.”

Inspector Piscina said two calls were made in 10 minutes with reports of a group of children being verbally abusive.

The second call said somebody was carrying a knife and police were on scene about 50 minutes later and ‘identified the group and engaged with them, giving them words of advice and moving them on’.

He said nothing suggested the officers found a knife.