"A number of people have been given 01761 numbers, but some people who arrived after us have been given 01225 numbers.

"I do consider my phone number to be a part of my identity. It has been part of my identity for 25 years.

"For 23 years I had my previous Bath number. Normally you can transfer them when you move house but they said no. I thought I would still be on the Bath exchange.

"My next door neighbours were refused a takeaway delivery because the people refused to believe they lived in Bath."

Some neighbours issued with the 01761 code have written to local MP Ben Howlett, as well as the communications ombudsman.

One letter of complaint to Cllr Player said: "We wish to have a Bath code and have raised the matter with BT.

"We have yet to receive an explanation as to why we were not allocated a Bath number."

A BT spokesman said: "A community tends to be allocated the area code of the nearest telephone exchange but on occasions this isn't always possible.

"For example, physical boundaries such as railway lines or rivers can mean that one community is fed by two different telephone exchanges with different area codes.