Fire crews face hundreds of hoax calls every year, but lives are continuing to be put at risk.
Freedom of Information Data obtained by the ECHO shows that in 2021 alone, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service received 180 malicious calls. These were cases where a person has called 999, but there was no sign of incident when fire crews arrived.
That year, the service recorded 263 calls classed as abandoned, meaning the caller hangs up when the control operator answers the call and 34 were challenged, meaning the caller hangs up when questioned for details. This brings the total to 477 hoax calls.
