a false 999 call would have been dialled]. full 8 digit range = 2000 0000 - 9989 9999 giving 79,900,000 numbers dialable without the area code (020). Notes: 0xxx xxxx, 1xxx xxxx, and 999x xxxx ranges not available for local numbers. 0 - reserved for national dialling, 1xx used for short codes (e.g. 100 for the operator) and 999 for calling emergency services. From 1 June 1999, the new 020 code for London was introduced to replace the 0171 and 0181 codes, re-unifying the London telephone area under one code as it had been under the 01 area code. All the previous seven-digit numbers had a 7 or 8 prefixed to them: (0171) xxx xxxx became (020) 7xxx xxxx (0181) xxx xxxx became (020) 8xxx xxxx From 1 June 1999, London numbers could additionally be dialled with the new 8 digit number but it had to be preceded by the new area code 020 (or international equivalent). From 22 April 2000, the 0171 and 0181 codes stopped working and callers dialling an 020 number from another 020 number could omit the 020 (in keeping with local dialling historically). The following diagram shows the history of London's code, starting with the original unified 01 code and ending with the reunified 020 code: Misquoting Although London was only divided for ten years, and has since been reunited for much longer, people still frequently quote and write London numbers as if the city and surrounding suburbs were still split up into central and suburban areas by saying and writing "0207" and "0208". If the London number (020) 7222 1234 is written as 0207 222 1234, and then dialled in full, the destination will be reached. However, it is incorrect to place the pause as shown, because if the local number is incorrectly dialled on a landline from within London as just 222 1234, as it had been in the past, it will not be connected, because the first digit is now missing. On the day of the changeover, one in three callers failed to correctly use eight-digit local dialling. Possible causes for the misunderstanding include the confusion created during the period from 1 June 1999 to 22 April 2000, where it was not possible to dial eight-digit local numbers; the fact that people had become very much accustomed to the audio rhythm of a four-digit area code (from hearing the old codes, "0171"