PHONE users in the Bournemouth and Poole area could have to dial the 01202 area code in future even when calling their neighbours.

Industry regulator Ofcom is consulting over plans to ensure that new phone numbers continue to be available in all parts of the UK.

People in some areas, including those covered by the 01202 code, would have to use area codes even when making local calls.

The move would not affect the price of a call.

Ofcom says its consumer research suggests its plan is the least disruptive way of making more numbers available.

The 01202 area would be one of the first to be affected, with the new system being phased in from around 2013.

Ofcom is holding a public meeting on Wednesday March 2, 11am, at the council chamber in Bournemouth Town Hall. Experts will set out the proposals, with an opportunity for residents and businesses to ask questions.

The regulator has to allocate phone numbers to around 300 phone providers.

At the moment, it cannot create phone numbers in which the first digit after the area code is 0 or 1, because the network can confuse the number with other dialling codes or numbers reserved for services such as directory enquiries.

Requiring customers to use phone numbers would avoid the confusion and allow Ofcom to allocate numbers beginning with 0 or 1.

FACTFILE

BRITAIN’S area codes date from 1958, when Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) was introduced to allow people to make calls over long distances without going through an operator.

The codes were originally allocated based on two letters of the relevant place’s name and the corresponding number on a phone dial. So Bournemouth’s original code, 0202, came from the formula 0-BO-2.

A figure 1 was added to area codes after the initial 0 as part of a national shake-up known as Phoneday in 1995.