NORTH Yorkshire Police's non-emergency phone number has been hit by technical problems - just as the force is appealing for people to ring it with information to assist in a major murder investigation.

A force spokesman said it was 'currently experiencing intermittent issues with the 101 non-emergency phone number.'

He said: "Please bear with us if you are delayed in getting through.

"Emergency calls to 999 are not affected, but we would ask people not to call 999 unless it is a genuine emergency. We hope to have the problem resolved as soon as possible."

Police have today appealed for information as part of a murder investigation, following the discovery of a man's body in a flat in Holgate. They also today issued a renewed appeal over last week's attack on Strensall Common.