The Metropolitan police spent more than £35,000 making 110,000 calls to the speaking clock over the last two years.

The force spent more than £200,000 calling directory enquiries, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

The Met, which like all forces is facing cuts to its budget, said there were "evidential and operational reasons" for officers and staff – many of whom had no direct internet access – requiring the exact time and contact details.

It spent a total of £16,879 calling the speaking clock in 2010/11, down from £18,402 the previous year, the figures show. At 31p per call, officers and staff made almost 55,000 calls to find out the time last year, down from almost 60,000 in 2009/10.

The force spent £95,313 on directory enquiries in 2010/11, down from £121,501 the previous year.

A spokesman said: "We are committed to reducing such costs wherever possible and all directory enquiries from land-line telephones are routed to one service with no option to be put through directly.

"It must be remembered however that a huge number of our officers and staff will not have direct access to the internet as they are not office-based. There are clearly evidential and operational reasons for officers and staff requiring the exact time and contact details.

"Whilst officers will usually phone in for assistance, there will be occasions where other means for finding out contact information quickly are used."