Revelations that thousands of calls to police are being abandoned before they are answered is "appalling", Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has said.
Mr Rennie raised the issue at First Minister's Questions at Holyrood after it emerged 77,670 calls to the non-emergency 101 number were abandoned between July 2015 and July 2016.
The 101 number was set up by Police Scotland in 2013 to deal with non emergencies such as minor traffic accidents, car thefts and vandalism.
READ MORE: Over 77,000 calls to 101 police number abandoned in a year, figures show
Police said calls referred to as ''abandoned'' are when the caller disconnects without speaking to an adviser and does not suggest the calls are being unanswered.
Mr Rennie told MSPs: "Today we have seen figures that 78,000 calls to the police were dropped.
"That's calls to the national 101 police number - that's an appalling figure."
He said the finding comes on top of other issues affecting the force including high sickness rates, low morale, problems with IT systems and police station closures.
"Will the First Minister not look again at the damage she is doing to the services and the people that we all rely on?" he said.
READ MORE: Over 77,000 calls to 101 police number abandoned in a year, figures show
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Police Scotland have said it is entirely misleading and inaccurate to suggest that in excess of 77,000 non-emergency calls are unanswered by Police Scotland.
"He (Mr Rennie) will also be aware that police call handlers respond to over 2.5 million 101 calls and around half a million emergency calls every year.
"Police Scotland report that the average waiting time for a non-emergency 101 call is 12 seconds.
READ MORE: Over 77,000 calls to 101 police number abandoned in a year, figures show
"We will always work with the police to improve service levels."
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