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Establish a telephone number for members of the publicEditor’s note:
who might be in some distress but unsure whether theirAbout a year after this
predicament warrants the attentions of the emergency idea’s original
services. An 888 line would be introduced to relieve publication date,
pressure on 999. Commonsensical volunteers able to The Mirror reported
offer simple advice and solutions would staff the that Suffolk police
were to trail an 888
119service. When necessary, the staff would provide number, which was to
work in just the same
way. We can only
numbers for local police stations or forward callers to assume that the trial
the emergency services. was less than a rave
success.
Kate Pirouet
19 January 2001
Establish a premium rate phone-line service to help
individuals locate lost items such as keys or remember
telephone numbers, street or web addresses. The
service would be built around a questionnaire provided
by a psychologist. Questions would range from the
classic ‘Where were you when you last remember having
your keys?’ to such subjective approaches as, ‘What did
120you feel when you last looked at the website?’ A unique
system of billing could be employed whereby the call
costs, say, £2 to place and becomes progressively
cheaper the longer it takes.
David Owen
20 January 2001
