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Technical fault halts 999 calls Flooding leads to 999 call surge
(about 1 hour later)
Calls to the 999 emergency number in Essex cannot be taken. A massive surge of calls to the fire service after flooding in the south of England lead to delays in 999 emergency calls being answered, BT have said.
The East of England Ambulance Service and Essex Police said technical problems had caused the fault in the 999 service at lunchtime. The East of England Ambulance Service and Essex Police issued temporary emergency numbers at lunchtime after problems receiving urgent calls.
Members of the public ringing 999 number have been receiving an automated message on answer machine. A BT spokesman said call volumes at "100 times normal levels" had led to delays in some calls being answered.
Emergency calls to the ambulance service should be made to a temporary number, 01245-443241. Urgent calls to police should be made to 01245-490991. BT said "robust plans" for any further flooding were being put in place.
The telecoms company said the situation had started at 1115 BST and calls had resumed to normal by 1315 BST.
BT said a backlog in 999 centres had led to delays of 30-40 seconds before calls were initially answered.
An Essex Police spokeswoman said members of the public ringing the 999 number had been receiving an automated message on an answer machine.
Essex Police issued a temporary emergency number along with the East of England Ambulance Service after callers to the ambulance service in Essex said they experienced a technical fault.