A scheme which allows people to use Basildon Council vehicles to dial 999 has been hailed as a huge success - less than a year after it was set up.

The Emergency Link has been running since last April, although it was only officially launched in October.

The scheme allows members of the public to use phones inside any of the authority's 140 vehicles to call the council's Barleylands depot, where staff will then alert the emergency services.

The idea is aimed at people who see an accident or a crime but don't have access to a mobile phone or a pay phone to report it.

Since it was set up the scheme has handled a wide variety of differing calls.

They have included summoning ambulance to take a casualty to hospital, calling an ambulance to return a patient from Basildon Hospital and reporting a car on fire.

The scheme, sponsored by Ford, has been so successful it was recognised at the High Sheriff's awards ceremony recently.

A council spokesman said: "Emergency Link is yet another example of Basildon Council's award winning community safety initiatives.

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