People living in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch will soon have to dial an 01202 area code to make a local call, telecoms regulator Ofcom has confirmed.

The change will come into effect on 1 November 2012, subject to consultation. 

The move is planned to ensure the future supply of numbers in the Bournemouth area and avoid the need to change existing phone numbers. 

Calculations suggest Bournemouth will "run out" of 01202 numbers by 2016.

The new system will make it possible, in parts of the country where spare numbers are scarce, to bring in numbers where the first digit after the area code is 0 or 1.