Police will be forced to turn up to city crimes within 15 minutes in new reforms

People are ‘waiting hours or even days’ for a response to calls (Picture: Getty Images)

Police will be forced to turn up at scenes within 15 minutes in cities to stop crimes from going ‘unpunished’, the government has pledged.

Officers in the countryside will also be made to respond to emergency calls within 20 minutes.

The new reforms – announced on Monday as part of a radical overhaul of the police – will see forces held accountable if these times are not met.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said...