more than 45 minutes for officers to arrive when she reported a break-in in progress at her Warwick home.

And when the woman called to find out if the Police were on their way, she was told the weekend's Jazz Festival had tied up officers.

The woman -- who asked not to be named -- said: "It scared me terribly to think that more than 40 minutes was the time they took to respond.

"The guy was right at my house. This is just not satisfactory.'' Last night a Police spokeswoman said an inquiry had been launched into the incident -- and that she not comment further until the facts were established.

But she added: "There were an inordinate number of break-ins in the Warwick area around the same time, and this may have been a contributing factor.'' The woman added: "All I can say is that because of a big jazz festival, it's no reason in the world why all the Police force should be there.

"That makes it prime time for robbers, rapists and murderers to enter people's homes because they will know there aren't enough Police around.'' "Maybe the Police are under-staffed -- but 911, in any other country in the world, is a relief number. You call and help is on the way.

"Kids are taught 911 -- you see it on the back of Police cars. It should mean something.

And she added: "The public shouldn't have to suffer because the Police are short-staffed. I've nothing against the Police, but this was not acceptable.'' The woman called Police around 8.55 p.m. on Saturday night after she and her husband heard someone trying to break into their Warwick home.

911 call Her husband and a neighbour chased after the burglar while she waited at the house for Police to turn up.

But she said uniformed officers in a marked car did not show up until 9.40 p.m. -- and CID officers did not arrive until nearly ten minutes after that.

The woman said she called the Somerset Police station after 20 minutes had gone by -- but said she was told no-one knew anything about it.

She added she called Police Headquarters in Prospect to complain about the service and spoke to an Inspector -- but had yet to receive a satisfactory answer.

The woman said: "I was told yesterday that the system was down and he would check into the reason why there was such a delay.

"But he said 911 calls should be attended to quicker than 45 minutes.'' The woman added that when she called Police on Saturday night, no-one asked if she was in the house alone.

She said: "They never even asked that -- but I did tell them my husband had left with my neighbour to chase the man.''