Emergency 999 calls are not being connected to police forces because of a technical fault, the Metropolitan Police have said.

Scotland Yard said they were alerted to the issue shortly after 8am on Sunday and have advised London residents to use 101, usually a non-emergency number, as a temporary measure until the problem has been resolved.

It is understood the fault is a “national issue” affecting other forces across the country. The 999 phone line is operated by BT which then routes calls to individual forces.

The Metropolitan Police tweeted: “Due to a technical fault that is impacting a number of police forces, many 999 calls are not connecting.

“Until further notice, please call 101 in an emergency.

“Please ONLY call in an emergency and please wait until later to make any 101 non-emergency calls.

This story is being updated.