As lockdown measures continue to ease, Lincolnshire Police have launched a campaign to encourage residents and visitors to download the What3words app for free.

If you have the app installed it will allow you to provide an exact location to emergency services, helping them find you quicker and potentially saving lives.

What3words grids the Earth into 3 metre x 3 metre squares to give each square a unique set of three words: a what3words address. For example, ///habit.user.unstated is the what3words address for an exact spot along the promenade of Skegness Beach.

This app has helped police locate rural collisions as well as missing people on the coast. It is also vital for those in staying in holiday homes, campsites and caravan parks where many places don't have an address .

PC Clare Heaton, who polices the coast, said: "Being able to identify a caller's exact location is incredibly important. When incidents are reported, there is sometimes no easily identifiable landmark or postcode. Trying to establish exactly where these people are can result in valuable minutes being lost – these few minutes could potentially save a person's life.

"The coast attracts thousands of visitors each year, many of whom stay in holiday homes.

"Individual holiday homes and locations along the beach are often difficult for emergency services to locate. What3words gives you the exact three words for your location so we can find those who need us quickly.

"What3 words is not only important for those in caravans but as equally important for those who may end up in a road traffic collision or another emergency where the location is not obvious."

PCSO Michelle Collins, who also patrols the coast, added: "What3words will help front line police officers and staff to locate members of the public quickly when they are calling from an unknown or rural area.

"Wherever you go and whatever you do make sure you download the free app and use it, you never know when you might need it. Maybe one day it could save yours or a loved one's life."

What3words is used by 85% of the UK's emergency services and often in partnership working such as road traffic collisions and search and rescue operations.

Richard Hunter, Ambulance Operations Manager from East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "It can cost precious time trying to locate a caller, shaving minutes, even seconds, can dramatically change the outcome of an emergency. Our utilisation of what3words has proven to be invaluable when getting to our casualties, especially falls or walking injuries.

"We're asking the public to download the app to help us find them should they need help, whether they're in a camp site, in the peak district or at the coast."

Spencer Creek Area Manager (Response) at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: "In a large rural county like ours that attracts a lot of visitors, what3words is such a useful tool to get an accurate location in emergencies.

"For us, it can help crews respond more quickly to a range of incidents such as fires, road traffic accidents and rescues in particularly remote locations.

"If you're visiting somewhere you're not familiar with this summer, even just for the day, the what3words app could be the most valuable thing you take with you."

Chief Pilot Llewis Ingamells: "Our operation at Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is a time critical one and paramount to the success of this service is our dispatch and our ability to know exactly where the patient or patients are.

"Given we operate a state-of-the-art helicopter with an advanced Critical Care Team we are often tasked to the most serious and remote parts of our area of operation from the dense woodlands of Sherwood Forest, the vast Lincolnshire coastline and the side streets of our cities right down to the sparsely populated Fenlands of Lincolnshire.

"When minutes really do matter, what3words gives our HEMS Dispatcher an instant and accurate 3m target area which the crew can use for rapid flight-planning freeing up those precious minutes for our Critical Care Team to work.

"Whether a patient or caller finds themselves at the bottom of a disused quarry or along a secluded part of the beach with no other soul around, this app allows the dispatcher to task the most appropriate and rapid resource to the incident location.

"We at Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance fully endorse what3words, it really could help save lives."

What3Words is free-to-use and can be downloaded as an app from your mobile phone. We understand that not all of our residents own a smartphone so we would ask for people who have the app to visit those who don't and give them their What3words.

How to download

What3words is available to download as a free mobile app for both iOS and Android from the playstore, This works entirely offline in multiple languages. About what3words The free what3words app, available for iOS and Android, and the online map enable people to find, share and navigate to what3words addresses in over 40 languages. A 3 word address in one language can be switched instantly into any other supported language, and even looked up in one language and shared in another. what3words can be easily integrated by businesses, governments and NGOs into apps, platforms or websites, with just a few lines of code, and products are available for free or for a nominal fee for qualifying NGOs. Its partners include Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Domino's Pizza, Lonely Planet, Airbnb and Cabify. what3words has a team of over 120 people, across offices in London, UK, San Francisco, USA, Johannesburg, ZA and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The company has raised over £40 million in capital from investors such as Intel, Aramex, Deutsche Bahn, SAIC and the Sony Investment Fund. what3words is used in 193 countries in the world. Thousands of businesses are using millions of 3 word addresses to save money, be more efficient and provide a better customer experience. Find your what3words address here.