Plans to switch off the UK's traditional landline phone network could leave people in remote areas unable to contact help in an emergency, MPs have warned.

Landline operators aim to complete the switch to an internet-based network instead of copper-wire cables by the end of January next year.

The government and operators say the move to digital landlines will offer a more reliable service.

But MPs representing remote areas of the UK urged security minister Dan Jarvis to ensure that scrapping the copper-wire network did not make their communities more vulnerable in a storm or other emergency.

Unlike digital services, the traditional landline network does not rely on mains electricity and continues to work in a power cut.

Labour MP Torcuil Crichton, who represents the Western Isles constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said: "Resilience is inbuilt in the islands but we have major problems with connectivity because of this move from analogue to digital phone lines."

He said that "when the power goes out…