ABOUT one in 10 people in Wellington may be saved from life threatening situations by the Government’s mobile phone emergency alerts, based on Sunday’s nationwide test of the system.

Customers in the town’s Wetherspoons public house, the Iron Duke, complained that only a few people received the test alert at 3 pm.

When the alert did arrive, it appeared to happen in two waves, with some customers receiving it at 3 pm ‘on the dot’ but others having time to complain that their phones had not sounded – before they then received it.

However, many others were left out completely, with one customer admitting his device had been switched off.

One man, who did not receive it, said: “It sounds like about one in 10 are getting it.”