Report an Emergency Happening Now

If there is a risk to life, call 999 immediately.

On this page:

• Reporting an emergency - during office hours
• Reporting an emergency - outside office hours
• Reporting non-emergencies - outside office hours
• Other emergency contacts:
  • Gas
  • Electricity
  • Highways issues
  • Flooding
  • Sewage and water

Reporting an emergency - during office hours

Our office hours are: 

• Monday to Thursday: 8:30am to 5:00pm
• Friday: 8:30am to 4:30pm

During these hours, please call 01635 551111.

Please note: you will be referred to the most appropriate service to respond to the emergency, including the Emergency Planning Service.

Reporting an emergency - outside office hours

There is a limited service out of hours for emergencies only.

To report an emergency out of hours, please call 01635 42161.

You will be presented with a number of options; if you know the option, you can press that number immediately to save time. The options are:

• Option 1: to be redirected for concerns relating to social care for adults and children or homelessness
• Option 2: to be redirected for lost or found dogs
• Option 3: to be redirected to car park issues 
• Option 4: to be passed to a call handler for emergencies only

Please only contact us in the event of an emergency, such as those listed below:

Emergencies include: 

• Major incidents - for example major accidents, significant flooding
• Safeguarding concerns (social care)
• Highways issues, including:
  • Fallen trees and other debris blocking or restricting roads or causing potential danger to road or footpath users
  • Traffic lights not working (please note: West Berkshire Council only manages permanent traffic lights, and some but not all temporary traffic lights) to find out more visit our roadworks page, here.
• Flooding of properties (inside the property, not in gardens), and roads
• Emergency repairs to council-owned temporary accommodation (please note: tenants of properties should contact their Housing Association, landlord or agent)

Emergencies do not include:

• Bins not being collected
• Payments to the council
• Fallen trees or debris that is not blocking or restricting roads or causing potential danger to road users or on private land
• Noise complaints which are not related to council facilities or property

You can also contact some of these services directly out of hours, as set out below:
 

Adults and children safeguarding concerns or homelessness

To report safeguarding concerns or homelessness, please call 01344 351999.
 

Reporting a lost or found dog

If your concern relates to a lost or found dog, please contact our Animal Warden service.

Reporting non-emergencies - outside office hours

You can report non-emergency issues outside office hours by using our online form, this includes reporting issues relating to a highway, such as broken streetlights, flooding on a road and potholes.

You can find out about when and where we're performing scheduled maintenance on our roads here.

Alternatively you can contact Customer Services the next working day.

Other emergency contacts:
 

Gas

If you think you have a gas leak, or can smell gas, leave the house and phone the National Gas Emergencies number immediately on 0800 111 999.

Please visit the National Grid website for more information about gas emergencies.

Electricity

If you have a power cut, call the national power cut helpline on 105 to get up-to-date information. They should also be able to let you know when the power will be back on. 

Alternatively you can check using Power Track (ssen.co.uk).

Highways issues

To report an incident (including flooding) on the M4 or A34, contact National Highways on 0300 123 5000. You can also report an issue on the National Highways website.

To report an incident (including flooding) on all other public roads in West Berkshire, you should use our online report a problem form.

To find out more about traffic issues on the road network, check the National Highways 'Traffic England' website.

Flooding

If a flood is happening now and there is a risk to life, call 999.
Please be aware that during severe weather, the emergency services will be very busy.

Where you report flooding depends on the location and cause of the flooding. We've listed who to contact in what situation below:
 

Report flooding on West Berkshire highways

Use our report a problem form to report ordinary water course flooding or flooding relating to a highway (other than the M4 or A34), such as blocked drains or flooding on a road.

For specific emergencies outside of our normal office hours, please use our out of hours contact details.

Our Highways team also provide emergency response to flooding by closing roads, setting up diversions, pumping flooded waterways, and providing sandbags to properties and communities threatened by flooded highways, where resources are available.

Report flooding on the M4 or A34

To report flooding on the M4 or A34, contact National Highways on 0300 123 5000. You can also report an issue on the National Highways website.

Report flooding from a main river

To report flooding from a main river, contact the Environment Agency through the Floodline on 0345 988 1188. You can also report flooding from sewers, water mains, rivers, sea, groundwater and private drains on the GOV.UK website.

Report sewage flooding or a burst water main

To report flooding from a Thames Water burst water main or sewer, contact Thames Water Utilities on 0800 316 9800. You can also report problems on the Thames Water website.
 

To find out more about who to report to you can check the GOV.UK website.