Three teenagers who sparked a full-scale emergency operation were today criticised for wasting resources.

One of the boys, in his late teens, made the 999 call from a mobile phone on Sunday evening and put the emergency services on alert.

A police car, three fire engines, an ambulance and even the Cambridge police helicopter were brought to the rescue at Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea.

A fire brigade spokesman yesterday said the Pitsea youngsters were in no danger and simply "wasted everybody's time".

He said: "The boys were local and should have realised they were not in danger.

"They had not crossed any water and the tide was not coming in. In all honesty, a ten-year-old could have been in control in that situation. You would not expect boys of that age to be worried.

"This was not a hoax call, but we were made to believe the boys were stranded on an island and could drown.

"All we did was tell them to keep walking. We did not need to take any other action.

"It was all a complete waste of time and resources."

When the emergency call was made, it was getting dark and the boys panicked when they could not find their way home from the park after taking a short cut.

They were found on land on the edge of the park.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.