Hoax caller blasted by fire service

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) received the malicious call from a phone box on Abbey Lane in Westleigh saying there was a house fire on nearby Priory Avenue.

Due to the nature of the call three fire engines from Atherton, Leigh and Hindley stations were mobilised just before midnight on Wednesday.

However, when the firefighters arrived there was no fire at the address.

The fire service has now launched a strongly-worded attack on hoax callers and warned they will not hesitate to prosecute where they can.

Watch manager Andy Leyland from Atherton fire station said: “It’s a waste of resource. With the investigations we were at the scene for around 20 miutes and all Atherton, Leigh and Hindley’s resources were tied up for that time.

“We’ve heard the person’s voice and we know the location of the call so investigations are ongoing to identify the caller.

“We just do not condone this kind of behaviour. Any information we can find out will be passed on to the police.

“We will also be keeping an eye on that area for repeat calls.”