A Basildon firefighter has claimed hoaxers are putting their own families' lives at risk when they call 999.

Mick Osbourne, acting commander at Basildon Fire Station, condemned the "irresponsible" people who waste the services' time and money every year.

In 2001, Basildon fire station received almost 300 hoax calls. Mr Osbourne said: "The situation is bad.

"That amount of calls - approximately 20 a month - is stopping us from attending genuine calls."

He added that crews from Hadleigh, Wickford and Billericay have had to cover calls after the Basildon crew had been sent on yet another wild goose chase.

"This is putting lives in danger. These people are very irresponsible. What they don't realise is that it could be the lives of their own families that are at stake," Mr Osbourne added.

The officer also claimed the calls were affecting the morale of the crews.

The claim comes as BT Payphones announced that 1,778 hoax emergency calls were made in Essex last year. Essex was second only to Cleveland in a survey of 40 counties across Britain.

BT Payphones, along with the fire service, has now created a poster and education campaign to highlight the impact of hoax 999 calls on real emergencies and urge people to think twice before they dial 999.

Published Friday October 11, 2002

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