North Somerset Council’s out of office hours number is changing

If people need to contact the council in an emergency out of office hours, from today (Wednesday 28 August) they should call 01934 888 888.

This replaces the previous system, where people called 01934 888 888 during office hours and 01934 622 669 out of office hours. Under the new system, people can phone one central number at any time of day, and they will be internally connected to the relevant team.

North Somerset Council are making this change because of the digital switchover. By the end of 2026, all analogue UK phone lines will be switched over to digital phone lines. As the old out of office hours number is an analogue phone line, it will be disconnected as part of the programme.

To help manage this change, the council has included a transition period. For the first month after the switchover, the old out of office hours number will automatically divert to the new number. For a further month, the old number will remain active, but anyone who calls it will be asked to redial 01934 888 888. When the transition period comes to an end, the old out of office hours number will be formally disconnected.

Councillor Mike Bell, leader of North Somerset Council, said: "Every analogue phone line in the country should be switching to digital by the end of 2026, as part of the government's digital switchover. As our old out of office hours number was on an analogue line, this change affects us.

"To stay ahead of the game and make sure people will still be able to contact us when they need to, we've decided to be proactive and make the switch for our out of office hours contact number ahead of time.

"From 28 August onwards, people can call 01934 888 888 any time of the day, and they will be internally connected to the appropriate team. This should also make it easier for people to reach us, as they won't need to remember two different numbers.

"It's really important that people can still reach us outside of office hours when they need to, so we've worked closely with our partner agencies to ensure the right people know that this change is taking place. We'd respectfully ask that people continue to only use the out of office hours number in emergencies."