Emergency alert service to be tested in East Suffolk
Residents and visitors in part of the district will receive an emergency alert
Last updated 25th May 2021
The Government's emergency alert service is going to be tested in part of East Suffolk today (25 May).
Residents and visitor's phones or tablets in Leiston and surrounding areas will receive two alerts between 1pm and 2pm.
Their devices may vibrate loudly and make a loud siren-like sound, but no action will need to be taken.
According to the Government website, the test alert will read:
"The UK government is testing Emergency Alerts in East Suffolk.
"Emergency alerts tell you what to do if there’s a life-threatening event nearby.
"To find out more, call 0808 1697692 or search for gov.uk/alerts."
If the test is successful, the emergency alert scheme is expected to be launched this summer and will be used if there is ever any danger to life.
Suffolk Police Assistant Chief Constable Simon Megicks said:
"Should we ever have to use it alerts and if the system is subsequently developed and rolled out, if we were ever to do it for real then there would be a message on the screen that gives people direction and tells them what to do.
"This is another tool, another layer, that allows emergency services to warn and inform the public. Anything that we can do to keep people safe, in my view, is a good thing to have and to use."
Alert services like this are used across the world to warn people of things like severe weather conditions, flooding and volcano eruptions.
The alert service uses mobile phone masts to broadcast the message to every compatible mobile phone or tablet in range, and does not require personal information.