HC Deb 29 July 1953 vol 518 cc1281-2
30. Mr. Dudley Williams

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General what duplication there is of names of telephone exchanges in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Gammans

There are 139 names which apply to more than one telephone exchange. There are, for example, six Newports and six Whitchurches. The exchange names are distinguished, for telephone operating purposes, by the addition of a suffix, for example; Bampton (Devon); Bampton (Westmorland).

Mr. Williams

Is my hon. Friend aware that the use of the suffix, to which he refers, is not always successful, because when telephoning a certain exchange in the West Country I am invariably put through to somewhere in Derbyshire? Will my hon. Friend look into the matter and see whether the problem can be rectified?

Mr. Gammans

I am surprised if my hon. Friend does not know the suffix of the particular Bampton to which be is telephoning.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

Is the Assistant Postmaster-General aware that on one occasion I asked for a number on the Brixton exchange and was put through to Brixham, Devon?