Emergency planning

The first response in a major emergency or disaster, is to ring 999 and to ask for one of the emergency services.

The response, to any natural disaster or an emergency will be actioned by one of the emergency services. The day time contact numbers, are:-

• Lincolnshire Police Service telephone 01522 532222;
• Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service telephone 01522 555777;
• East Midlands Ambulance Service telephone 01522 545281.

The Lincolnshire Emergency Planning Unit (telephone number 01522 843402) is responsible for co-ordinating the response to emergencies across both North Kesteven and Lincolnshire.  

The Council’s role, is to maintain services and provide whatever assistance it can to local residents to help relieve distress, and ensure that essential services and supplies are available. The Council’s emergency hotline, for use outside of Office hours, is 07966 400999. This number should be used for minor emergencies that are not immediately life threatening e.g.

• Emergency housing repairs - no power/no heat.
• Unsafe buildings - collapsed walls, genuine gale damage.
• Fallen trees.
• Noise/pollution.

Anyone made homeless because of an emergency, has a priority need for accommodation, regardless of their personal circumstances. If this happens, the Council is required to make available temporary accommodation. However this may not arise if other suitable accommodation is available.

To be an emergency, the property must be lost suddenly, rather than over a period of days or weeks. This would apply in circumstances where there is a fire, a flood or other disaster and the occupiers have to be removed immediately from a building because it is dangerous. Homelessness that results from an unlawful eviction does not come within this emergency category.

The Environment Agency is responsible for issuing flood warnings, their hotline contact no is 0345 9881188. To report flooding, ring Lincolnshire County Council Highways Team on 01522 782082.

The Western Power website, which is updated every minute, will help with details of how to cope during a power cut. You can type in your postcode which will give you details about the status of any faults such as:-

• If Western Power are aware of an unplanned fault or not;
• If so, how many customers are affected;
• Estimated fix time (if available);
• The emergency contact number for the region (including out of area locations)

The Council’s Environmental Services Department deal with a wide range of emergency situations, such as the management control of food poisoning and the outbreak of pollution incidents. Details of the response procedure for such incidents are available from the Council’s hotline number 01529 414155.