101 police non-emergency number running again

The non-emergency 101 number used to contact police is now running again after technical difficulties this morning.

At least nine forces confirmed they were affected technical issues on Saturday morning.

Humberside Police had tweeted: "We can confirm that 101 is not working nationally. Fault lies with some kit in Birmingham which is being worked on."

Police in Scotland said they too were experiencing problems with the non-emergency phone number.

The Metropolitan Police tweeted at 11am that there were problems with the 101 number and asked people to visit their local station to report non-urgent crime.

Another tweet said: "999 calls remain unaffected but Londoners are reminded to only use this in an emergency."

Humberside Police said on Twitter this afternoon: "We can confirm that 101 is not working nationally. Fault lies with some kit in Birmingham which is being worked on."

Many other forces around the country told the same story, including north of the border where a posting on the official Police Scotland Twitter feed stated: "We are aware of an issue when dialling 101. Please call 01786 289070 instead. In an emergency always call 999."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said that a national telecommunications fault had resulted in most calls to NHS 111 call centres in England, including the one that it runs, not being connected.

"The telecoms provider is aware of the problem and is working to fix it," it said.

Later a spokeswoman for NHS England said: "The NHS 111 is now working normally. A previous technical issue has been resolved. The public should use the service as normal."

Staffordshire police tweeted that the national 101 problem had been resolved, and asked people to start using it again, and other forces confirmed that the number was now working in their areas.

Additional reporting by PA