TV presenter Fiona Phillips launches abuse helpline after finding father living in 'absolute squalor'

A 24-hour helpline has been launched in Essex to encourage people to report cases of elderly abuse.

TV presenter Fiona Phillips helped launch the service.

It's a joint venture by Essex Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Crimestoppers, and the Essex Safeguarding team to help give some of the most vulnerable people in society a voice.

It's costing £35,000 to run for 9 months.

TV presenter Fiona Phillips says she's experienced first-hand when care can go wrong. Her father had Alzheimer's and was living in Wales.

She said: "He had been behaving very oddly and social services were meant to be paying him visits. He finally opened the door to me with tears in his eyes, almost as if he was relieved to be finally letting me in.

"He was living in absolute squalor, it was clear that no one had been going in there and I thought he was being looked after and it absolutely broke my heart."

Nick Alston, Essex Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "When they receive the call they will either pass the information onto the police if it is about a criminal activity or they will pass it to the Essex safeguarding experts and they can then make sure the right expert goes and deals with that issue."

If the nine month pilot in Essex is successful it could be rolled out across the country.

Click below to watch Serena Sandhu's report.