NEW 888 SERVICE TO PROVIDE UK WOMEN EXTENDED SAFETY

Sun 10 October 2021:

According to local sources, a new telephone service and application suggested by British Telecom will try to give protection to women in the UK.

According to The Daily Mail on Saturday, the telecommunications giant’s proposal has already won support from Home Secretary Priti Patel.

For further security, users will download the new app and provide their home address, as well as other frequently visited destinations.

Before embarking on a journey, a person can call or text 888 or enter their destination and estimated arrival time into the phone app, which the GPS system will track through text message.

Emergency services including the police will be notified if the person does not respond to a message sent by the system checking for their safe arrival.

The paper said the BT chief executive, Philip Jansen, had written to Patel saying the helpline would cost around £50m and could be launched by Christmas.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have received the letter and will respond in due course.

“As set out in our strategy earlier this year, we need a whole-of-society approach to tackling violence against women and girls, and welcome joint working between the private sector and government.”

Patel told the Mail: “This new phone line is exactly the kind of innovative scheme which would be good to get going as soon as we can. I’m now looking at it with my team and liaising with BT.”

BT chief executive, Philip Jansen, told the tabloid that the idea of such an app came after the abduction, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens.

Everard’s kidnapping and murder in March shocked the country, and women’s safety on the streets has since been a hot topic.

Sabina Ness, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, was murdered in London in September while walking five minutes from her house to meet friends.

According to the Metropolitan Police, her body was discovered outside the One Space Community Center on Kidbrooke Park Road in Greenwich about 24 hours after she was murdered.

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