Telephone & post from London 

Useful telephone numbers

Emergencies: for police, ambulance or fire service, call 999

Operator: call 100

International operator: call 115

Reverse-charge / collect calls: call 155

Directory inquiries: call 118 500

International directory inquiries: call 118 505

Speaking clock: call 123

For health-related telephone numbers, check out our Health / Emergencies page.

For money-related numbers to do with credit card companies, see our Money / Currency page.

Other numbers that you might find useful include:

Lost property: for items lost on the tube, or in a black cab, call 0845 330 9882, or visit the Lost Property Office at 200 Baker Street. For items lost on an overground train, call 0845 330 9882. For items lost on a bus, call 0207 222 1234 to get the number of the bus depot at the end of route.

Lost pets: Your first call should be to your local council (see numbers below), who all operate a dog warden. Cats and dogs are then taken to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (call 0207 622 3626, or visit them at 4 Battersea Park Road, 10.30 AM–4 PM daily).

Telephone number prefixes

The most common telephone prefixes are listed below. If you require detailed information on pricing, then speak to the operator (call 100).

00: International dialling code

010 and 020: Area codes

0500 and 0800: Freephone numbers

0845: Calls charged at local rates

0870 and 0871: Calls charged at national rates

07: Calls charged at mobile phone rates

09: Calls charged at premium rates

Making international calls

If you are you making a call to London from abroad then you should dial 00 44, and then omit the first 0 from the area code.

For example: The Adelphi’s telephone number is 0207 344 0055, so you would dial 00 44 207 344 0055.

If you are making an overseas call from London, then all you have to do is place the following prefixes at the start of the number. (If the telephone number that you are dialling happens to have an area code that starts with a zero, then remember to drop the zero.)

Poste Restante

All Poste Restante mail ends up at the Trafalgar Square Post Office, 24-28 William IV Street (8.30 AM–6.30 PM Mon–Fri, and 9 AM–5.30 PM Sat). Your mail will be held for a maximum of four weeks, and you will need some ID to pick it up.

Post Office opening hours

For general enquiries, or details about your local office, call 0845 722 3344, or visit postoffice.co.uk.

Opening times vary from business to business, but Post Offices generally open between 9 AM and 5.30 PM Monday to Friday, and 9 AM to midday on Saturday.

London postcodes

The following post codes should be taken as a rough guide only, as many of the codes cover several areas.

N1: King’s Cross; N2: East Finchley; N3: Finchley; N4: Finsbury Park; N5: Highbury; N6: Highgate; N7: Holloway; N8: Hornsey; N9: Enfield; N10: Muswell Hill; N11: Friern Barnet; N12: North Finchley; N13: Palmers Green; N14: Southgate; N15: Seven Sisters; N16: Stoke Newington; N17: Tottenham; N18: Edmonton; N19: Archway; N20: Totteridge; N21: Winchmore Hill; N22: Wood Green

NW1: Camden Town; NW2: Cricklewood, Neasden; NW3: Hampstead; NW4: Hendon; NW5: Kentish Town; NW6: Kilburn; NW7: Mill Hill; NW8: St. John’s Wood; NW9: Kingsbury; NW10: Harlesden, Willesden; NW11: Golders Green

SW1: Pimlico; SW2: Brixton; SW3: Chelsea; SW4: Clapham; SW5: Earl’s Court; SW6: Fulham; SW7: Kensington; SW8: Battersea, Vauxhall; SW9: Stockwell; SW10: Earl’s Court; SW11: Battersea, Wandsworth; SW12: Balham; SW13: Barnes; SW14: Sheen; SW15: Putney; SW16: Streatham; SW17: Tooting; SW18: Wandsworth; SW19: Wimbledon; SW20: Raynes Park

SE1: Lambeth; SE2: Abbey Wood; SE3: Blackheath; SE4: Brockley; SE5: Camberwell; SE6: Catford; SE7: Charlton; SE8: Deptford; SE9: Eltham; SE10: Greenwich; SE11: Lambeth, Vauxhall; SE12: Grove Park; SE13: Lewisham; SE14: New Cross; SE15: Peckham; SE16: Rotherhithe; SE17: Vauxhall; SE18: Plumstead, Woolwich; SE19: Crystal Palace; SE20: Penge; SE21: Dulwich; SE22: Peckham; SE23: Honor Oak; SE24: Herne Hill; SE25: Norwood; SE26: Sydenham; SE27: Streatham; SE28: Thamesmead

E1: Whitechapel; E2: Bethnal Green; E3: Bow, Stepney; E4: Chingford; E5: Clapton; E6: Beckton, East Ham; E7: Forest Gate; E8: Hackney; E9: Homerton; E10: Leyton; E11: Leytonstone; E12: Newham; E13: Plaistow; E14: Docklands, Poplar; E15: Stratford, West Ham; E16: Canning Town; E17: Walthamstow; E18: Woodford

EC1–4: City [Square Mile]

W1: West End; W2: Bayswater, Paddington; W3: Acton; W4: Chiswick; W5: Ealing; W6: Hammersmith; W7: Hanwell; W8: Kensington; W9: Maida Vale; W10: Kensal; W11: Notting Hill; W12: Shepherd’s Bush; W13: Ealing

WC1–2: Soho, West End

For more information on London postcodes, telephone 0845 7111 222, or visit royalmail.com.

London Boroughs

For information about a specific London borough, check out the following telephone numbers and websites:

Barnet: North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South. Tel: 0208 359 2000. Web: barnet.gov.uk

Brent: Town Hall, Forty Lane. Tel: 0208 937 1200. Web: brent.gov.uk

Camden: Town Hall, Judd Street. Tel: 0207 278 4444. Web: camden.gov.uk

City of London: Guildhall. Tel: 0207 606 3030. Web: cityoflondon.gov.uk

Ealing: 14–16 Uxbridge Road. Tel: 0208 825 5000. Web: ealing.gov.uk

Enfield: Civic Centre, Silver Street. Tel: 0208 379 1000. Web: enfield.gov.uk

Greenwich: Town Hall, Wellington Street. Tel: 0208 854 8888. Web: greenwich.gov.uk

Hackney: Town Hall, Mare Street. Tel: 0208 356 3000. Web: hackney.gov.uk

Hammersmith & Fulham: Town Hall, King Street. Tel: 0208 748 3020. Web: lbhf.gov.uk

Haringey: Civic Centre, High Road. Tel: 0208 489 0000. Web: haringey.gov.uk

Hounslow: Civic Centre, Lampton Road. Tel: 0208 583 2000. Web: hounslow.gov.uk

Islington: 222 Upper Street. Tel: 0207 527 2000. Web: islington.gov.uk

Kensington & Chelsea: Town Hall, Hornton Street. Tel: 0207 361 3000. Web: rbkc.gov.uk

Lambeth: Town Hall, Brixton Hill. Tel: 0207 926 1000. Web: lambeth.gov.uk

Lewisham: Town Hall, Catford Road. Tel: 0208 314 6000. Web: lewisham.gov.uk

Merton: Civic Centre, London Road. Tel: 0208 274 4901. Web: merton.gov.uk

Newham: Town Hall, Barking Road. Tel: 0208 430 2000. Web: newham.gov.uk

Redbridge: Town Hall, 128–142 High Road. Tel: 0208 554 5000. Web: redbridge.gov.uk

Richmond: 44 York Street, Twickenham. Tel: 0845 612 2660. Web: richmond.gov.uk

Southwark: Town Hall, Peckham Road. Tel: 0207 525 5000. Web: southwark.gov.uk

Tower Hamlets: 5 Clove Crescent. Tel: 0207 364 5000. Web: towerhamlets.gov.uk

Waltham Forest: Town Hall, Forest Road. Tel: 0208 496 3000. Web: walthamforest.gov.uk

Wandsworth: Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street. Tel: 0208 871 6000. Web: wandsworth.gov.uk

Westminster: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street. Tel: 0207 641 6000. Web: westminster.gov.uk