A flood at the Chester telephone exchange is the cause of a problem with phone lines in Chester, Tattenhall, Saughall, Huxley, Broxton, Bunbury and North East Wales this morning (Wednesday, January 14).

01244 and 01829 are among the dialling codes which have been affected since 5.34am but BT estimate normal service will resume this afternoon.

A spokesman for BT said: "“We wish to apologise to customers for the loss of some telephone services which has been caused by water damage at our exchange in Chester.

"This has affected some customers in parts of North East Wales and Cheshire.

"Engineers are working hard to restore services and they expect to have lines back up this afternoon.”

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service are advising affected residents to dial 999 from a mobile in the event of an emergency.

A spokesman for the service said: "We have been told that there may be a problem with phone lines in the area this morning.

"But it is only the landlines that would be affected.

"For 999 calls please use a mobile."

The Countess of Chester Hospital is experiencing difficulties receiving incoming calls this morning.

People needing to contact the hospital urgently are asked to use its online enquiry form.

Villagers from Ashton Hayes were without phone lines and broadband connection on more than one occasion last year.  They were reconnected just before Christmas having experienced problems during the summer and from November onwards.