LANCASHIRE County Council has announced the introduction of cheaper 0300 numbers to contact its services.

The decision to replace current 0845 numbers with 0300 numbers will make it cheaper to contact the council by phone.

The new numbers will be introduced on Thursday, March 27, when it will cost the same to call as geographic numbers starting 01 or 02.

0300 calls are often included as part of inclusive minutes, discount schemes or bundled packages in the same way as geographic calls, so will be free of charge to the customer in many cases.

County Councillor Jennifer Mein, the county leader, said: “Changing to 0300 numbers is undoubtedly the right thing for us to do.”