A FAMILY who frantically called for help as a frenzied attacker brandishing a knife made threats to kill have spoken of their disbelief after the police said they were “too busy” to attend.

Army veteran Paul Lemare, 56, was confronted by the knifeman outside his home in Ventura Drive, Colchester.

He called police but it took nearly two weeks for officers to take his statement.

The confrontation took place at around 4.35pm on Friday, July 6.

The attacker initially verbally abused Mr Lemare and a friend, before leaving the scene and returning with what Mr Lemare described as a six inch blade.

He proceeded to wave the knife at the pair.

“He was threatening to kill everyone there,” said Mr Lemare.

“He came running over with this knife, it looked like a kitchen knife. I stood between him and my friend.”

Mr Lemare’s wife Angela, 50, and the couple’s seven-year-old daughter, also watched on in horror.

Angela added: “I immediately called the police but was told because of the football in town, they couldn’t come out.

“He had gone into a house, but we were worried he would come back.”

Mr Lemare is seeking answers about the lack of a police response on the day of the incident and subsequent delay in taking his statement.

“I was in the Armed Forces but I have never seen anything like this in civilian life,” he said

“My friend went up to the police station to make a statement, we were told they would look at whether a crime had been committed.

“Regardless of what happened before or after, there he was in the middle of the street with a knife threatening to stab someone.

“Surely we are victims here and I certainly didn’t feel it was being taken seriously.

“Are we supposed to wait until the knife is actually in someone before we call?”

An Essex Police spokesman said both men had now given statements and added inquires are progressing.

“Our response to incidents can be impacted by a number of factors including the number of incidents taking place on a particular day,” he said.

“Summer is our busiest time of the year and demand on our officers is at its highest.

“We are regularly receiving around 1,500 calls a day and that weekend we had our busiest 24 hour period of the year with more than 1,800 incidents between 6am on July 7 and 6am on July 8.”