§ 35. Mr. Dayasked the Postmaster-General, whether, in view of the fact that persons desiring to make an emergency call for police, fire, or ambulance from a manual telephone exchange call-box have to first insert two pennies in the call-box, he will see if some method of call can be devised to obviate this disadvantage in case the caller is not in possession of the necessary coins at the time of an emergency.
§ The Postmaster-General(Major Tryon): Emergency calls can be made from all street kiosks, whether on manual or automatic exchanges, without the insertion of any money in the coin box. The call is made by means of an emergency pushbutton in the case of a kiosk on a manual exchange.
§ Major TryonI understand that unfortunately one individual lost 2d. by not knowing how to put through an emergency call, but I think the two answers I have given in Parliament on this subject, and the correspondence, will avoid a similar disaster occurring again in the hon. Member's family.
§ Mr. DayWill the right hon. Gentleman answer my question: are these push buttons in all public telephone kiosks?
§ Major TryonNo. As I told the hon. Member in an earlier answer about the same 2d., they are not necessary in kiosks which are connected with automatic exchanges, where the call can be got through by dialling for the operator.