Technical glitch hits 999 centres

A TECHNICAL fault affected 999 calls to two of the Scottish Ambulance Service's three call centres, it has emerged.

The error, which occurred between midnight and 3.30am on Tuesday at the Edinburgh and Aberdeen branches, meant emergency calls were being diverted to operators in Glasgow.

It is the second time in three months that the service has been hit by problems. In July no 999 calls were received in all of Scotland's call centres for several hours, instead being diverted to Belfast and the North of England.

The ambulance service said it was investigating the reason for the fault.

A spokesman for the service said: "The Scottish Ambulance Service experienced some technical problems in its Inverness and Edinburgh Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres."

MSP Jackie Baillie, Labour's health spokeswoman, said the incident was "concerning".