Fire crews were disappointed to report that a number of ‘hoax’ 999 calls were made from addresses in Rock Lane and Barn Lane, Bodmin on Decmebr 9 at around 8.16am.

These calls took valuable time away from not only the fire crews but the BT 999 operators, emergency control room operators and emergency responders.

A spokesperson said: “The first of three separate 999 calls were made by school-aged children reporting that a house was burning with a dog inside.

“Highly trained emergency operators, fearing a serious incident, tried to obtain an address but it became evident that the calls were hoax.

“It is a criminal offence to make hoax calls to the emergency services and those prosecuted, can receive heavy fines or even a custodial sentence. It also wastes the time of BT 999 operators, emergency control room operators and emergency responders, that may not be able to respond to genuine emergencies, while dealing with a hoax call.

“The calls today were made from Rock Lane and Barn Lane in Bodmin and clearly demonstrates that some children fail to understand that they must not misuse the 999 system.”