Spate of malicious calls to fire brigade

One day the service was called out twice within the space of two hours to deal with fires that did not exist at Beaumont Square and Demesne Avenue in the town.

A Fire Authority spokesman said: “There is a big difference between malicious calls and false alarms with good intent but these calls were definitely malicious.

“The person or persons who made them can’t have realised the potential danger for while our appliances are out on a wild goose chase another call to a serious outbreak could come in and valuable time and perhaps lives would be lost. The appliance could also be involved in an accident”

He added that someone with a warped sense of humour might think it fun to see the brigade racing through the town to a non-existent fire.

“If it ended in tragedy I wonder how he would feel,” said the spokesman.

Malicious calls cost the ratepayers £20 a time.