MERSEYSIDE Police are urging the business community and residents in St Helens to ensure they are prepared for the Millennium.

With just three months to the celebrations, people are being encouraged to make certain that alarm systems have been checked. Automatic alarms at private houses and business premises account for a large number of the 999 calls received, and patrols have to be sent to each incident.

Merseyside Police is already anticipating a high demand in calls to alarms, and being called out to automatic alarms will put an added strain on the service. WPC Amanda De Gray Birch, part of the St Helens Millennium Planning Team, said: "We have been working to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy the Millennium celebrations as safely as possible. It is vital that people help us to ensure this by making sure burglar alarms and security systems are Millennium-compliant. These systems should be tested to check they are in good working order well in advance of the Millennium."

The majority of systems should not be affected by the date change, but if people are in any doubt they should contact their service provider to check the system.

A police spokesman said that false calls take up valuable police time taking officers away from dealing with more serious incidents.

Merseyside Police is confident that their computer systems are Millennium-compliant and planning for response to incidents has been underway for many months. Preparations for policing the Millennium are at an advanced stage and contingency plans will be in place to respond positively and effectively with every eventuality.

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