Staff from across Tendring District Council (TDC) have been praised for their response in supporting vulnerable people after a phone line issue in Walton-on-the-Naze.
TDC’s Careline was first made aware of the issue late on Friday (January 11) and immediately deployed staff to a sheltered housing scheme in the town to provide support while the phone lines were down.
The technical fault, outside of the council’s control, meant alerts from call buttons or smoke alarms were not connecting through to the TDC Control Centre based within Careline.
Due to the number of Careline customers in Walton – almost 450 – as well as sheltered housing residents, TDC declared the issue an emergency incident early on Saturday, and TDC volunteers were drafted in as well as the authority’s Emergency Planning team to make contact with those who were potentially vulnerable.
Within just a few hours every Careline customer – or a family member or trusted neighbour who could assist – had been contacted, with staff going door-to-door for anyone who could not be reached by mobile phone, ensuring everyone was safe and accounted for.
