Two councils cover Guildford and neither handles everything. The right number for bins, potholes, flooding, water, power, the hospital and the Waterloo line — with the out-of-hours ones.
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Guildford is covered by two councils at once, and which one you need depends entirely on what has gone wrong. A rule of thumb: if it is a bin, a car park, a planning application or your council tax bill, it is the borough. If it is a road, a pothole, a street light, a school or social care, it is the county. Everything else on this page — water, power, the river, the trains, the hospital — belongs to somebody else again.
This changes on 1 April 2027
Guildford Borough Council
Bins and recycling, car parks, planning, licensing, environmental health, housing, council tax and benefits
Thames Water
The water and sewerage company for Guildford — burst pipes, leaks, no water, blocked sewers. 24 hours.
Power cut
Free, 24 hours, from any phone. It routes you to whichever electricity network operator covers your postcode, so you do not need to know which one that is.
NHS 111
Urgent but not life-threatening — including urgent dental problems and out-of-hours GP. 24 hours, or use 111 online.
Royal Surrey County Hospital
The town's district general hospital, with an emergency department. The postcode takes sat navs to the rear entrance — keep going to Gill Avenue for the main one.
South Western Railway
The Waterloo line. Delay Repay covers you from 15 minutes late.
SWR Assisted Travel
Booking help getting on and off trains. 24 hours; textphone 18001 0800 52 82 100.
Citizens Advice South West Surrey
Free, independent advice on debt, benefits, housing, work and consumer problems
Town Tools builds free, public tools for Guildford and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.
Surrey County Council
Roads and potholes, street lights, pavements, schools, libraries, blue badges, adult and children's social care
Report a road, pothole or street light
Surrey County Council's online reporting form — faster than the phone for anything that is not dangerous
Your parish council
Twenty-four parishes ring the town — Ash, Worplesdon, Shere, Normandy and the rest. They are consulted on planning and precept part of your council tax, but they do not run services.
Evenings and weekends: flooding and sandbags, homelessness, environmental health, stray dogs
Emergency Duty Team (social care, out of hours)
Urgent adult or child safeguarding concerns outside office hours
Emergency housing repairs (council tenants)
Out-of-hours repairs for Guildford Borough Council tenants
Gas emergency
If you smell gas: open the windows, do not touch switches, get outside and ring. 24 hours.
Environment Agency Floodline
Flood warnings for the Wey and advice during a flood, 24 hours. You can also register for free warnings by phone, text or email.
Find a GP or dentist taking NHS patients
The NHS's own directory. NHS dental places are genuinely scarce across Surrey, so expect to ring round; residents also swap current tips on this town's local tips page.
Council car parks
Faults with barriers, pay machines and Autopay in Guildford Borough Council car parks
Homelessness, or at risk of it
Guildford Borough Council's housing advice team in office hours; out of hours ring 01344 949371
Council tax and benefits
Bills, single-person discount, council tax support and housing benefit — all the borough, not the county