Greater Manchester Police and ambulance services issue 999 warning

Emergency services across the country are struggling to answer 999 calls in an emergency — including in Greater Manchester — due to a technical fault this morning.

GMP says the force is one of ‘a number’ experiencing the problem on Sunday morning (June 25). The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) have also confirmed they are experiencing the same issue.

Both say the issue lies with BT. Now, following the outage, GMP and NWAS have issued an urgent update on how to contact police in an emergency.

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“BT have advised a number of forces that they are experiencing issues with their 999 lines that may affect connection to an emergency service,” Greater Manchester Police said.

“If your call is an emergency, please persevere with waiting for them to connect you. Non-emergency contact can be made online.”

However, NWAS are advising people to use 111 if 999 does not work. A statement said: "BT have reported a system failure in diverting 999 calls to all emergency services.

"If you need to get hold of us in a serious or life-threatening emergency and can't get through on 999 please call 111 for medical emergencies. We will keep you updated!"

Other force around the UK are experiencing a similar problem. The Metropolitan Police in London has asked emergency callers to use 101 for the time being, but it’s not thought this advice applies in Greater Manchester.