Sarah Everard: BT 888 service floated to protect lone women

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Plans for a phone service aimed at protecting lone women walking home have been set out by BT in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.

"Walk Me Home" would allow users to opt in to a GPS tracking system and an alert would be triggered if they do not reach their destination on time.

The phone service, which is in the early stages, would be activated by calling a phone number, possibly 888.

But some campaigners argue that the real problem is male violence.

Users of the service would be able to enter their home address and other regular destinations into the mobile phone app.

Before walking the user would start the app, or call or text 888. This would give the expected journey time and begin the GPS tracking.

A message would be sent to the user at the time they were predicted to arrive at their destination. A failure to respond would issue calls to emergency contacts and then the police.