Chaos as emergency 999 calls not connecting

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A large number of emergency 999 calls are not connecting as those in need are being forced to use other options.

The situation was revealed by Metropolitan Police on Sunday morning which urged people to instead “call 101 in an emergency”.

“Due to a technical fault that is impacting a number of police forces, many 999 calls are not connecting,” a Met Police said in a statement.

“Until further notice, please call 101 in an emergency.

“Please ONLY call in an emergency and please wait until later to make any 101 non-emergency calls.”

The police spokesman confirmed telecommunications company BT runs the 999 network.

Met Police warned their advice was only applicable to people in London but the issue was impacting callers nationwide.

However, other police branches have also warned people in their local area about the glitch.

Included in these are Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police, South Wales Police and Bedfordshire Police.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and Leicestershire Fire Control told people in their regions to instead call 111.

Although the issue is nationwide, it is not known how many emergency services have been affected.

A Government spokesperson said: “We are aware of a technical issue with the 999 call system today. A full investigation is under way to resolve this as quickly as possible.

“BT’s back-up system for emergency calls is running and members of the public with genuine emergencies should continue to call 999 or 112 in the normal way.

“You should be able to connect when calling 999 or 112, but if you still have difficulties connecting you may contact 101 for police and fire and rescue services, or 111 for health.”

BT has said it is attempting to resolve the situation and have put a back up platform in place.

“Early this morning we experienced a problem with the 999 service,” a spokesperson said.

“The situation is fast-moving as we fix the problem and our back up platform is now working – so people should call 999 as usual. We will provide updates as the issue is resolved.”

NHS England data that was released in April revealed the wait times for 999 calls, including the national average being 28 seconds.

One in ten callers waited more than one minute 33 seconds and one in 100 four minutes 12 seconds.

Ambulance calls in England have increased by more than six million in the past decade.

This has seen the number of call-outs rise from 7.9million in 2009/10 to 14million in 2021/22.

More than 1000 ambulance workers have left their jobs since 2018 in a bid to seek better pay and conditions elsewhere, according to the sector’s union.