Although this international emergency number has been in operation since 2009, a recent survey showed that only 13 per cent of people in the UK were aware of its existence.

Dialling 112 will put you in touch with police, ambulance and fire services plus mountain rescue and the coastguard in all EU countries. This number is also in use in Turkey, Croatia and Montenegro.

You can call 112 from a landline, payphone and mobile free of charge.

A specially trained operator will answer your call. Depending on the national organisation of emergency services, the operator will either deal with the request directly or transfer you to the most appropriate emergency service.

Operators are increasingly able to answer 112 calls in more than one language, which is especially important for people calling 112 while abroad.

Give your name, address, telephone number. It is necessary to identify callers, in particular in order not to report the same incident twice.

Do not hang up if you call 112 by mistake! Tell the operator that everything is fine. Otherwise, emergency assistance may have to be sent out to check there is no problem.