This is the secret code you’ll hear announced in train stations or on the Tube in the event of an emergency
When there's an emergency, station employees will put out a call for a made-up inspector to report to station chiefs
THERE'S one name you never want to hear over the tannoy when you're on the tube or in a train station.
That's because when there's an emergency, station employees will put out a mysterious-sounding call for this made-up inspector to report to station chiefs.
In the event of a suspected fire or any kind of threat, the PA system will blare out a call to get the attention of a fictional cop called Inspector Sands.
The inspector's name is used as a code across the whole of the UK rail network and also the London Underground.
Using the phrase means clued-up station staff can be tipped off whenever something may be about to go down without causing a needless panic among commuters.
In the event of an emergency, the announcement to listen out for will probably be along the lines of: "Would Inspector Sands please report to the operations room immediately".
However, the exact wording will be tweaked depending on the nature of the situation, with different codes depending on whether a fire, security or medical emergency is unfolding.
The name Inspector Sands may seem a little random - but there's actually a good story behind where the made-up moniker came from.
Inspector Sands' civilian brother, Mr Sands has long been used as a code phrase in theatres when a fire has broken out.
Historically, theatres would always keep buckets of sand within easy reach to use if a fire needed extinguishing.
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But theatre staff needed a way to call for the sand, used to smother the blaze, without alarming guests.
As such, Mr Sands was born as a fictional member of staff who could be summoned whenever a fire needed dealing with.
Of course, train stations and theatres aren't the only places where secret codes can come in handy.
Recently, we told how restaurants had developed a hidden way to describe high priority guests - and to single out the ones that will never get a table.
And we also revealed the hilarious hand signals used by flight attendants to chat about dinner without shouting across the plane.