Emergency alerts to be piloted in region

The messaging would allow the public to be updated on natural disasters, terror attacks or large-scale accidents and will be piloted in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, as well as in Suffolk and Glasgow over the next few months.

Cell broadcasting, which allows messages to be sent out to every active handset near a chosen mobile mast without the need for individual phone numbers, will be tested along with text messages sent out using the locations of phones tracked by mobile network operators.

The pilots will assess how well the technology works and how the public reacts to it.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: “I want to reassure the public that these tests are not linked to any threat or specific hazard in their area.

“We have included diverse areas – both rural and urban – as part of our tests, as we want to look at how effective the different systems are in different areas in using mobile phones to deliver mass messaging.”

The Government and mobile phone companies O2, Vodafone and EE will conduct separate tests that will reach around 50,000 people across the three areas.

Mr Maude said: “We are also looking for help from the public in evaluating how well the tests worked and how they felt about receiving messages in this way and we would welcome the public’s views which they can provide via an online survey or a series of focus groups.”

A report is expected in early 2014, before ministers decide whether to deploy the scheme.

Mobile alerts have already been used in countries including the USA to alert people about disappearances, prison escapes and wanted vehicles. Places prone to serious natural disasters, such as Japan and Chile, are also implementing similar technology.