Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Rosevean Road, Penzance at 30/03/2013 10:23

Firefighters from Penzance Community Fire Station attended a report of a kitchen fire. Upon arrival at the address given, it was obvious the call had been made maliciously. The hoax caller then made further 999 calls to the fire service, taking up the valuable time of the Fire Control operators. Because making hoax calls is a criminal offence, Devon & Cornwall Police were informed and a request made to the telephone company to have the telephone disconnected and the number rendered useless. This was achieved a few minutes later.

Note: In addition to the criminal offence of making malicious hoax calls to the emergency services, it is also a breach of contract between the subscriber and the telephone service provider. To stop persistant hoax callers abusing the 999 system, there is the facility to use this breach to have the contract terminated immediately. This was invoked to good effect and the hoax calls soon stopped.