It is the council's responsibility to support the emergency services if there is a major incident in York. We must keep main council services running and co-ordinate what voluntary groups do to help.

If you want to report an incident contact the emergency services immediately tel: 999

Do not report emergencies directly to the council.

Find out what to do if there is an emergency on the UK Resilience website.

What is a major incident?

Major incidents need the emergency services, the NHS or the council to follow special plans to deal with them. Major incidents may include:

• natural disasters, for example floods
• pollution
• terrorism.

The emergency plan

If the emergency services tell us there is a major incident we will follow the instructions in our emergency plan. The plan says how we will co-ordinate:

• road diversions
• equipment needed to tackle the incident
• centres for you to go to if you cannot get to your home
• temporary mortuaries

The plan also includes how we let people know what has happened. If a hotline number is needed it will be advertised in the local press, tv and radio.