diff --git a/app/main/uploader.py b/app/main/uploader.py
index 7eaf12698..8c87fe3c9 100644
--- a/app/main/uploader.py
+++ b/app/main/uploader.py
@@ -1,18 +1,32 @@
+import botocore
 from boto3 import resource
 
 
-def s3upload(upload_id, service_id, filedata):
+def s3upload(upload_id, service_id, filedata, region):
     s3 = resource('s3')
-    bucket_name = 'service-{}-{}-notify'.format(service_id, upload_id)
-    s3.create_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
+    bucket_name = 'service-{}-notify'.format(service_id)
     contents = '\n'.join(filedata['data'])
+
+    bucket = s3.Bucket(bucket_name)
+    exists = True
+    try:
+        s3.meta.client.head_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
+    except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+        error_code = int(e.response['Error']['Code'])
+        if error_code == 404:
+            exists = False
+
+    if not exists:
+        s3.create_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name,
+                         CreateBucketConfiguration={'LocationConstraint': region})
+
     key = s3.Object(bucket_name, upload_id)
     key.put(Body=contents, ServerSideEncryption='AES256')
 
 
 def s3download(service_id, upload_id):
     s3 = resource('s3')
-    bucket_name = 'service-{}-{}-notify'.format(service_id, upload_id)
+    bucket_name = 'service-{}-notify'.format(service_id)
     key = s3.Object(bucket_name, upload_id)
     contents = key.get()['Body'].read().decode('utf-8')
     return contents
diff --git a/app/main/views/sms.py b/app/main/views/sms.py
index e02df960d..32843cc6e 100644
--- a/app/main/views/sms.py
+++ b/app/main/views/sms.py
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ from flask import (
     url_for,
     flash,
     abort,
-    session
+    session,
+    current_app
 )
 
 from flask_login import login_required
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ def send_sms(service_id):
             filedata = _get_filedata(csv_file)
             upload_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
             template_id = request.form.get('template')
-            s3upload(upload_id, service_id, filedata)
+            s3upload(upload_id, service_id, filedata, current_app.config['AWS_REGION'])
             session['upload_data'] = {"template_id": template_id, "original_file_name": filedata['file_name']}
             return redirect(url_for('.check_sms',
                                     service_id=service_id,
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index b2725fbf1..582d5a2ac 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ class Config(object):
 
     HEADER_COLOUR = '#FFBF47'  # $yellow
 
+    AWS_REGION = 'eu-west-1'
+
 
 class Development(Config):
     DEBUG = True