Derry people reminded of importance of house numbers

Residents are reminded that all homes within the city and district are required to have a civic number permanently installed at the front of the property. In the event of an emergency, timing is critical, and the PSNI, Fire Service or Ambulance workers need to be able to clearly see your door number, or they could be delayed while trying to locate the correct address.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Sandra Duffy, urged residents and business owners to follow the advice and display their door numbers accordingly.

She said: “The importance of having a visible address number on your home or business cannot be emphasised enough. All too often, emergency services are delayed when trying to find a particular location. We want to ensure the police, fire brigade and ambulance staff can find you quickly and efficiently, should you ever need their services. Council have offered some suggested guidelines when displaying your house number and I encourage everyone to listen and adhere to these guidelines. It really is very important and in all our best interests.

“The last thing we would ever want is that someone has been delayed in receiving critical care from emergency services because they couldn’t find their home.”

Council have reminded everyone that door numbers should be displayed as a number and not text or letters, and it should be at least three inches high when on a residential property, and four inches high when on a business.

Numbers should be contrasting colour to the background and placed on, above or at the side of the main entrance, so that they can be easily seen from the street. If the entrance is more than 50 feet from the street, or is not visible, a second set of numbers should be displayed on the mailbox or on a post at the end of the driveway.

Everyone is reminded that emergency services could be coming to your address from any direction, and to ensure both sides of the mailbox are marked with the number. Reflective numbers are highly recommended.

For more information, visit www.derrystrabane.com/Buildingcontrol.