Wellington, Sept 6 NZPA - Residents of quake-devastated Christchurch are being offered free use of payphones as Telecom works to restore telephone services through the region.

Telecom said today that it had made payphones in and around Christchurch free for local, national and mobile calls.

But it urged customers to use the phones responsibly, by keeping calls brief and making important calls only.

Telecom said that 111 services were fully available and fixed line infrastructure and Telecom mobile networks were working well.