The 101 telephone number for calling police is back up and running after being down for nearly five hours. 

A national problem with the 101 telephone number for calling police was affecting around three-quarters of the country's forces, including Sussex.

The fault, which did not affect the 999 emergency service, was fixed at about 1.50pm.

This morning Inspector Andy Kille from Sussex Police said: "Unfortunately, callers using the 101 number are getting a ringing tone, but there is no indication that there is a fault and the calls aren't being received by our call handlers."