Counting cost of police calls

CALLERS to the police who ring the non-emergency 0845 telephone number could find themselves out of pocket.

Herts Police recommends callers to use their non-emergency number 0845 3300 222 if they are not dialling 999 in an emergency.

But even though the police website claims that 0845 numbers from a landline are charged at a local rate wherever people call from, Central Office of Information guidelines maintain that is not always the case.

In its document Better Practice Guidance for Government Contact Centres it says that 0844 and 0845 numbers can be charged at up to 5p a minute from BT lines and should never be referred to as "local rate" in any publicity.

Dave Lindsay, a spokesman for the "Say No to 0870" campaign website, points out that only a tiny minority of BT's customers are on a "non-discounted" package entitling them to pay around the same for a an 0845 number as they would pay for a local geographical call.

A Herts Police spokesperson said they were looking into whether they had the most cost-effective system with the existing 0845 number or should look at switching to an 03 number.

And Chief Supt Steve Ottaway, head of operation support, said they were committed to providing a single number which would be easy for people to remember and which they could use without being financially penalised.