01164 Numbers

In the UK, an 01164 number is a normal landline phone number within the Leicester (0116) area code.

Any UK number beginning with 0116 is a Leicester number. The '0116' area code at the beginning is optional if you're dialling from one Leicester 0116 landline phone to another.

0116, 01162 or 01164?

There is no 01164 area code. Since the year 1995, Leicester has had the four-digit area code 0116, followed by seven-digit local numbers.

The correct way to write a number beginning '01164' is (0116) 4xx xxxx, as this clearly distinguishes the optional 0116 area code from the seven digit local phone number. (Why this matters...)

Have things changed?

During the year 1995, Leicester's area code changed from 0533 to 0116, while its old six-digit local phone numbers were prefixed with '2' to make them seven digits long.

For example, (0533) 527000 became (0116) 252 7000.

The new system gives Leicester nearly 8 million numbers: (0116) 2000000 to (0116) 9989999. Prior to the change, fewer than 800,000 were available: (0533) 200000 to (0533) 998999.