HUNDREDS of anxious relatives were unable to find out what had happened to their loved ones because a Foreign and Commonwealth Office helpline buckled under the volume of calls.

About 1,200 people spoke to volunteers at a facility at the Metropolitan Police training centre in Hendon, northwest London, in the first 24 hours after the disaster but many more were unable to get through and were confronted with either the engaged tone or a message saying that the number was not in operation.

The head of the Hendon operation said that the lines had been permanently at capacity, with calls at among the highest levels after a mass casualty incident, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

There have been accusations of under-staffing at the Casualty Bureau Appeal Centre, which swung into operation for the first time since it opened late last year. MPs have called for an inquiry after constituents said that they could not find out about their relatives.

Gerald Howarth, the Conservative MP for Aldershot, said that the provisions for the Foreign Office helpline were inadequate. “We understand that over a public holiday there might be staffing problems but it does appear that right from the start the emergency line was inadequate,” he said.

Kevin Tunbridge, of Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, said that he had had no contact with his son, Luke, 20, or his son’s girlfriend, Laura Blackman, 20, who had been in a coastal resort in south Thailand.

“I have tried to contact the Foreign Office and the Bangkok Embassy all day but all I have reached is a recorded BT message. All we want is some information.”

Keith Betton, a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents, said: “There’s a lack of information and a heck of a lot of phone calls.” A Foreign Office spokesman said that the system had been taking an extraordinary volume of calls and that consular staff in Thailand were working through the night.

The Foreign Office inquiry line for relatives and others concerned about people who might have been in the areas affected by the tsunami is: 020-7008 0000.

The number for those seeking advice on travel to the region is 0870 6060290.

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