West Mercia Police is advising people that they need to use the force’s new non-emergency number as the old 0845 number will be taken out of use tomorrow.

In November 2008, West Mercia Police launched its new 0300 333 3000 number, replacing the old 0845 number, which will no longer be available from tomorrow.

It was replaced in response to concerns raised by local people about the cost of calling the force via the 0845 number, which could be expensive via certain providers and mobile phones.

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has designated the 0300 range of telephone numbers in the National Telephone Numbering Plan for allocation to public sector bodies and not-for-profit bodies such as registered charities.

Ofcom introduced UK-wide 03 numbers as an alternative to chargeable 08 numbers. These new numbers allow organisations to have a single national point of contact without consumers having to pay extra to call them.

Jolanta Czeren-Shorland, Force Contact Manager, said: “The move to a new number follows public feedback over the cost of using an 0845 prefix. Calls to 03 numbers will cost the same or less than calls to 01 and 02 prefixed numbers and will be included as part of any inclusive minutes or discount packages, in the same way as geographic calls.

“0300 333 3000 is also easier to remember than the old number, which we have kept in service while the public familiarised themselves with the new one. I would urge people to check if they have our old number written down or saved in any way and ensure they change it to our new one straight away.

“I would also like to reassure the public that we endeavour to answer all non-emergency calls as promptly as possible. In December, more than 95 per cent of calls received on a non-emergency number were answered within 30 seconds.”