Relatives and neighbours of vulnerable people in the area are asked to check on them more frequently, as assistance alarms may not be operating correctly.
Staff at BT notified the police of problems affecting telephone services in the Inverurie area of Aberdeenshire this evening.
Members of the public have been encouraged not to make any non-urgent calls while the service is being restored.
A police spokesman said: “We are asking people not to make any non-urgent calls for the time being so that all the available phone lines can be used for emergencies.
“If you have an emergency, you should first try both landline or mobile telephones 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.”
Extra police patrols are currently out in the affected area of Inverurie, and fire and ambulance resources are being sent to other visible locations.
UPDATE 8.30pm – the situation has been resolved
Police take to streets after 999 outage in north-east town
