The way in which residents can report minor road traffic collisions and offences to Derbyshire Police has now changed. 

From Wednesday (1 December), the force says it will no longer take damage-only reports on the phone. Instead, all reports will have to be made via a form on the website at https://www.derbyshire.police.uk/.../report-a-road.../

A spokesperson said: "The form is quick and easy to use, and will generate an incident number for you right away so that you can sort the next steps with your insurance company.

"We are asking that any reports of road traffic collisions are now made online as this will then allow our Control Room staff to focus on emergency calls and deal with high risk incidents that require immediate attention.

"If there is a genuine reason you are unable to make this report online, please contact us and an appointment will be arranged for one of our Enquiry Office staff to complete it with you." 

Major road traffic incidents - where there is an injury, life is at risk, or a road is blocked - should still be reported via the 999 emergency line.

Derbyshire Capture can still be used to report dangerous driving, and people can submit dashcam footage via this system. However, the force says this should not be used for anything other than to report dangerous driving.

Assistant Chief Constable Michelle Shooter, who oversees the work in the Control Room, said: “We are always looking at ways to streamline the ways in which we work, and to keep our phonelines available for those that need us the most.

“Where possible, we are trying to move as much demand online as we can. By reporting RTCs online, the information that is provided is more accurate and would take the same amount of time for you to complete as it would for our staff.

“Where someone genuinely doesn’t have internet access or family and friends to help them to complete the form, a member of our team will contact them to discuss their report further.

“Please help us reduce the demand on non-emergency lines by completing these reports from the comfort of your home and at a time that best suits you.”

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