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O2 is temporarily allowing customers to access more than 20 support websites without using any of their existing data allowance amid concerns for mental health during the coronavirus lockdown.

A total of 22 sites offering mental health and emotional support, financial advice, assistance for elderly and disabled people and bereavement support have been given a zero rating.

It comes after all UK network providers pledged no data charges for accessing NHS Covid-19 advice online.

Citizens Advice, Samaritans, Mind, Age UK, Childline, Macmillan and Scope are among the list of 22 support services people can visit online without using up their data.

"Our customers are the most important thing to us and we want to ensure that they have the support they need throughout this difficult time," Mark Evans, chief executive of O2, said.

"That's why, further to our announcement last week zero-rating NHS websites, we're ensuring that additional websites providing financial, health and emotional advice and support can also be accessed by our customers without using any data allowance for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis."

Where to get help if you're feeling suicidal Samaritans (116 123) samaritans.org operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org , write to Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK, PO Box 9090, STIRLING, FK8 2SA and visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find your nearest branch. CALM (0800 58 58 58) thecalmzone.net has a helpline is for men who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support. They're open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year. Childline (0800 1111 ) runs a helpline for children and young people in the UK. Calls are free and the number won’t show up on your phone bill.

PAPYRUS (0800 068 41 41) is a voluntary organisation supporting teenagers and young adults who are feeling suicidal. Other depression charities

Depression Alliance is a charity for people with depression. It doesn’t have a helpline, but offers a wide range of useful resources and links to other relevant information depressionalliance.org

Students Against Depression is a website for students who are depressed, have a low mood or are having suicidal thoughts. Bullying UK is a website for both children and adults affected by bullying studentsagainstdepression.org

The Sanctuary (0300 003 7029 ) helps people who are struggling to cope - experiencing depression, anxiety, panic attacks or in crisis. You can call them between 8pm and 6am every night.There are other depression charities.

Meanwhile, industry body Mobile UK said network operators "already have more than enough capacity to handle the different demands expected due to Covid-19" and "extra capacity is being added as the situation requires".