Phone services have been restored after a hardware fault caused problems with landlines in some areas.

Police had advised anyone facing an emergency to use a mobile to dial 999 early on Monday morning while BT was working on the problem.

Areas affected include West Lothian, Falkirk, West Stirlingshire, North Lanarkshire and the west side of Edinburgh.

BT said services were restored at 6.30am.

A BT spokesman said: “A small number of customers in parts of Central Scotland may have been unable to use their landlines early this morning due to a hardware fault.

“All services were restored by 6.30am. Broadband and mobile calls were not affected and we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”