Essex Police says the issue has now been resolved, but faces a backlog of calls. See below for more information.

Essex Police urged the public to dial 101 in case of emergency, as 999 calls were not connecting due to a "national technical fault" earlier this morning (June 25).

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "Until further notice, please call 101 in an emergency. 

"If your issue is not an emergency, please consider using our other methods of reporting, which can be found on the police website."

As of 9.30am on Sunday, the 999 system was still down for many callers.

However, at 10am, an Essex Police spokesperson issued an update, saying: "An immediate resolution has been applied to the national 999 fault and we are now able to receive emergency calls.

"Like all forces, however, we are experiencing the residual impact of the national fault and we would continue to ask people to continue to use 999 only in a genuine emergency."

Updates to follow.

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