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101 and 111 non-emergency numbers 'restored' after fault | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Non-emergency police and NHS phone numbers have been "restored", Vodafone has said, after technical issues affected services for about four hours. | |
At least 23 police forces - including all four Welsh forces and the Met Police - reported problems with the 101 line from 09:00 GMT on Saturday. | |
The 111 NHS line was also down. Both were restored by 13:00, Vodafone said. | |
The company, which operates police and NHS lines, apologised and said it would carry out a "full investigation". | |
"Our engineers have worked hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and services have now been restored," Vodafone said. | |
It said it would continue to monitor the service closely, adding: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused." | |
'Catastrophic failure' | |
Problems with the 101 line were first reported at around 09:00, when police, including forces in Scotland, began tweeting about the issue. | |
The 101 phone number is for local police in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, for less urgent matters than a 999 call. | |
111 is a 24-hour medical advice line, also for non-emergency enquiries. | |
Separately, motoring organisation RAC said its breakdown number went down this morning after "Vodafone suffered a catastrophic failure to its telephone equipment" affecting "many large businesses" who use its services. | |
A spokesman for the Home Office, which oversees 101, said if had been working with Vodafone to resolve the problems "as soon as possible". | |
Northumbria Police said in a statement that the 101 system was working again and the emergency 999 number had not been affected by the problems. |