Fire chiefs have joined forces with the phone company BT in a bid to curb the number of hoax 999 calls being made from phone boxes.
Figures just released show that Essex is one of the worst-affected parts of the country outside the metropolitan areas such as Greater London, Greater Manchester and West Midlands.
Latest annual figures from BT show that in 2001, the fire service in Essex received 1,778 calls. Of the 35 county fire services, only Cleveland had a worse record with 2,517 hoax calls.
Over the year, nearly half of the 2.6m emergency calls made from phone boxes in the UK were hoaxes and a poster and education campaign is now targeting youngsters.
Organisers say that the problem always peaks in the school holidays so the latest campaign has been timed to deliver key messages to children before the half-term break.
BT and the fire services have been working together to pinpoint blackspot areas for hoax calls and in some cases, identifying individual phone boxes most frequently used by hoaxers.
Essex fire service spokesman Station Officer Nigel Dilley says: "Some youngsters may think that hoax calling is a good dare or a fun game - in reality it can cost lives."
Published Tuesday October 22, 2002
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