Inspector Sands

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Inspector Sands is a code phrase used by public transport authorities in the United Kingdom. The phrase is used in public address announcements in public places to alert authorities to a potential emergency, and possibly its location, without causing panic amongst members of the public by explicitly mentioning its nature. The exact wording depends on the station, and the nature of the incident, for example "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately."

Transport for London and the British Transport Police have not publicly stated what the phrase signifies and so its interpretation has been left to interested travellers. Most commentators agree that the automated public address announcement is generated by the station's fire warning system, indicating that a single fire alarm call point in a public area has been operated. If a fire alarm in a non-public area is operated or more than one fire alarm is operated or if a detector has gone off the system will start the evacuation procedure and the fire brigade is automatically called. The automated nature of the announcement means that it has occasionally been known to cut into manual announcements being made by station staff.

The use of the word "Sands" may be a pun on the fact that staff must investigate and reset the alarm system before a set period of time elapses, as might be measured in a sand-timer, and the station systems automatically switch to a fail-safe evacuation mode.^{[citation needed]} Alternatively, it may reflect the fact that sand can be used to put out fires. "Mr Sands" has also long been used in theatres as a code for fire.

Tom Utley, writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2003, incorrectly suggested that the codeword is used to notify staff of unattended bags (which might contain a bomb). Such calls are passed directly to the British Transport Police in order for police officers trained in ascertaining whether or not a bag contains an explosive device to attend.

During the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the phrase was announced repeatedly on a continuous loop.^{[citation needed]}

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