Hoax callers were nine-year-old girls

A SERIES of hoax phone calls to the fire brigade in Warrington were traced to three nine-year-old school girls.
The trio from the Orford area were involved in making a number of calls to the fire service claiming a house was burning.
An appeal ? along with recordings of the three calls – was issued by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in a bid to trace the hoax caller.
Within hours of an appeal being issued by Cheshire Fire service, which included recordings of the hoax calls,the mother of one of the girls attended Arpley Street Police Station in Warrington and said she believed her daughter was responsible.
The girl has now been spoken to by officers in the presence of her parents and asked to explain her actions.
A second girl has also been identified and spoken to in the presence of her parents and she has also been asked to explain her actions. A third girl was due to be visited by officers.
They will all then be invited to their local fire station and individually spoken to about what they did and the potential repercussions of their actions.
Inspector Andy Ross, of Warrington Central Neighbourhood Policing Unit, said: “All calls made to the emergency services are recorded. There are serious repercussions for anyone who is caught making a hoax call ? this can include having your mobile phone disconnected or even facing criminal charges and a prison sentence.
“Wasting the time of the emergency services is irresponsible and could cost lives. What initially might seem like a bit of harmless fun could potentially compromise the response of the emergency services for someone genuinely in need of our help.
“In this case we hope the three girls have learned their lesson and we hope that the intervention by the police and the fire service will help them to understand the impact of their actions.
“We would like to thank the mother who came forward after hearing the appeal on the radio ? it couldn?t have been easy for her to do that.”
The calls were all made from a single mobile phone in the Orford area of Warrington.
One of these calls resulted in two fire engines being mobilised to what was claimed to be a serious house fire in Long Lane.
The first call was made on January 29 when the caller was disconnected. The second call came at 4.25pm on January 30 with the caller claiming that there was a house fire on Long Lane.
The caller, claiming to be 19-years-old, went on to describe that they were on the opposite side of the road to the property and could see a whole room burning up – with the walls and roof on fire.
The third call was made just minutes later at 4.36pm the same day. It appeared to be a different caller who claimed that someone had taken their phone to make the call but they did not dispute the alleged incident.
Inspector Ross added: “We are committed to tackling the issue off hoax calls and we will continue to work alongside our colleagues at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service to trace those responsible and ensure they are dealt with.”
Terry McDermott, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Head of Unitary Performance, said: “We released these calls to highlight the seriousness with which we treat hoax and malicious calls and contacted the police to alert them to the incidents.
“I am grateful to the parent who took the brave step of reporting knowledge of the incident to the police. I am sure by now the youngsters will have realised the error of their ways and hope that others will learn from their mistakes.”
Anyone with any information about hoax calls is urged to call Cheshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.