THOUSANDS of BT customers were left without telephone services after lines went down over a large area Central Scotland.
Areas affected include West Lothian, Falkirk, West Stirlingshire, North Lanarkshire and the west side of Edinburgh.
Police urged people to remain calm and use a mobile phone to dial 999 if there is an emergency.
BT said its engineers had now resolved the issue
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A spokesman for Police Scotland said: "If you have an emergency, you should where possible use a mobile telephone to call 999.
"If this does not work, flag down any emergency service vehicle that is not using their blue lights, or go to the nearest police station, hospital, fire or ambulance station to report the emergency."
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Police patrols are out in the affected areas and a multi-agency response has been initiated.
The spokesman added: "In the first instance, relatives and neighbours of elderly or vulnerable people in effected areas are asked to check on them more frequently, as their assistance alarms may not operate correctly.
"We will give you an update on the situation as soon as we have more information."
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BT Group spokesman said: “A small number of customers in parts of Central Scotland may have been unable to use their landlines early this morning due to a hardware fault.
"All services were restored by 6.30am. Mobile calls and broadband were not affected and we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”
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