Phone Number Shortage: All Calls To Need Code

By the middle of next year, people in some areas of Britain will have to dial the local area code even when calling their neighbours.

This is because the UK is running out of landline telephone numbers in some places.

The media regulator Ofcom says it expects residents in Bournemouth to be the first to be affected by the change.

By next summer, they will have to start dialling the whole number - including Bournemouth's 01202 area code - to reach other homes and businesses in and around the town.

People in Brighton and Hove (01273), Aberdeen (01224), Milton Keynes (01908), Bradford (01274) and Cambridge (01223) are next on the list.

They'll have a little longer though, with the area codes for local calls not likely to be needed in those regions until 2016.

Ofcom says using the area code will free up more numbers, and it promises to launch a full public awareness campaign before the switch.

The regulator says it is taking the step because demand for landline numbers has risen as more telecoms companies entered the market and bought up sets of numbers in bulk.

"The number of communications providers has increased significantly over the last six years, leading to more competition and cheaper landline bills for millions of homes and businesses," it said.

"But it has also led to increased pressure on the supply of phone numbers as well as some communications providers holding a significant quantity of unused numbers."

Ofcom said it also planned to start charging telecoms providers 10p per landline number, in a bid to stop them stockpiling unused numbers.