Many people are not aware that you can call the police using the 999 system, even if you are not able to speak to them for reasons such as a domestic abuse situation. However, this will only work if you dial 55 at the correct time, to confirm a genuine emergency.
Around a quarter of all 999 calls each day are silent, many due to accidental dialling or hoax calls. Most silent calls are therefore put through to an automated system, where callers are led through a series of prompts.
One of these is to press 55 on your phone’s keypad to confirm that there is a genuine emergency. If you do this, your call will be transferred immediately and police will be sent to your location.
