Surrey Trading Standards is working with Buckinghamshire Trading Standards to crack down on telephone scammers this festive season.
They are encouraging people with vulnerable family or friends to applying for a free trueCall device.
The device blocks scam and nuisance calls from getting through.
Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards estimate that 48,000 calls were blocked by the trueCall devices in the two boroughs, installed in the year Aug 22 – Aug 23.
Concerns that East Surrey Hospital is putting “patients at risk of early death” have been raised by a coroner after the death of a 92-year-old man.
Douglas Nickols was admitted with a fractured hip on 28 February but waited until 5 March for surgery. He later caught pneumonia and died.
The coroner said Mr Nickols was immobile for a number of days before his surgery, contributing to his death.
The hospital’s chief medical officer said improvements were being made.
Businesses are being asked to be aware on how they store and use lithium-ion batteries to reduce fire safety risks.
The warning comes after a fire at Swan Walk in Horsham last Wednesday which crews from Billingshurst, Crawley and Horsham attended.
A fire investigation has concluded the most likely cause of the fire was lithium-ion batteries within a smartphone.
Tips for preventing lithium-ion battery fires can be found on the West Sussex County Council website,
The aim is to help boost the wellbeing of staff affected by stressful incidents.
Audrey the Golden Retriever and Jasper a Springer Spaniel are the first wellbeing dogs to be brought in by the West Sussex service. They will visit teams across the county and help members of staff who have attended difficult incidents.
A plastic surgeon has blamed a social media trend for a dramatic increase in young people suffering serious burns.
Paul Drake, a consultant at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, said he was treating “two to three cases a week, sometimes more” during July and August.
He said a trend that started on social media, in which people put aerosol cans on fires, was behind the injuries.
In many cases the cans have exploded, leaving some people with major burns.
Sunny Willink said her son Alfie – who suffered serious burns after putting an aerosol can on a fire – was “just having fun with his friends”.
He is now being treated at the Queen Victoria Hospital.
Mr Drake said he had seen some injuries with “potentially devastating effects with lifelong scarring and disability”.
Although the majority of injuries do heal without any major long-term complications, he said the hospital was also treating injuries that required surgery.
Mr Drake said he had no doubt social media was behind the increase in cases.
“All of these stunts are captured on video and uploaded to streaming platforms where they’re consumed over a huge audience,” he said.
“The feedback that is given through likes and shares – and the celebrity you can achieve – that adds a fuel which wouldn’t necessarily have been there 20 years ago.”