AS MANY of you experienced earlier today, a loud siren and an emergency alert popped up on a number of phones in Reading earlier this afternoon.

At 1pm today, a test alert was launched in the area, as the government trialled the new system for those in the Reading area, whether they are residents or not.

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We attended the scene where the alert button was pressed, at Brock Barracks for the army, Oxford Road.

Below is a video of the moment the button, pressed by MP Matt Warman, minister for digital infrastructure.

Area Manager for Prevention and Protection Service Delivery, Doug Buchanan for the Royal Borough Fire and Rescue Service and Mobile UK CEO Hamish Mcleod both attended the button pressing.

MP Matt Warman said: "We don't know the numbers yet as we've only just pressed the button, but we are aiming for this to get to 70% of mobile phones, so this is hundreds of thousands of people if you take everyone in the area.

"Obviously, once we get the data back from the networks, that will be a really important way of gauging if this is a good enough system to go nationwide, or do we need to do more testing.

Reading Chronicle:

"So far, it is looking like it was a successful test so we should be able to go nationwide fairly quickly."

When asked why Reading was chosen, he responded: "Reading is the right size - there are enough people for it to be a meaningful test, and also a good distribution of types of technology.

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"People think of mobile phone masts and pylons, but in real life they are very small boxes on rooftops and lots of other things, so it [Reading] has the right diversity of different kit.

Reading Chronicle:

When asked what the decision making process would be before launching the alert in a real-life situation, the MP added: "There's a cabinet office that asks if an event reaches a certain threshold, and then the report goes through a mechanical protocol.

"Networks then have a way to check it's definitely the cabinet office that they are talking to - and then we'd know if the alert meets the criteria.

"I think the main thing about this system is that it gets really quickly to people, and it can be used in an emergency from start to finish.

"There are so many of these devices now that you aren't just talking to the 70 per cent of phone users - you're talking to friends, family, parents, and grandparents who are likely to pick up the phone and ask each other if everything is okay. It has a sort of halo effect."