A HOAX caller got the fright of his life when the fire crew he called out on a 999 call turned up to confront him on his own doorstep.

The firefighters, who had been sent on two false calls, came face-to-face with their hoaxer after tracing him through calls he had made from a public telephone box and his own mobile.

Today fire chiefs warned they will track down any malicious callers who could ultimately face six months in prison or a hefty fine. During the last 12 months there have been 4,172 hoax calls made to fire stations in Greater Manchester, wasting valuable time and putting lives elsewhere at risk.

The fire crew traced the latest hoaxer early on Saturday after Bolton fire services received five malicious calls with two being from the same hoaxer.

The man, who was in his early 20s, first telephoned from a phone box in Breightmet at 1am and then from a mobile phone at 1.30am. The call from his mobile phone was traced to his house in Burnmoor Road, Breightmet and a fire crew went to confront him.

Pretending he had been asleep, the man denied the allegations but, on listening to the two tapes which recorded the malicious calls, fire chiefs were in no doubt it was the same man. The matter is now in the hands of the police.

The caller had said, both times, that there was a bedroom fire at a house on Aldercroft Avenue, Breightmet.

Two fire crews, from Bolton North and Bolton Central, attended the address to find nothing.

Sub-officer Karsten Boyle said: "We decided to confront this man because malicious calls are so frustrating and could endanger life.

"Each time two fire engines are alerted to the scene, which means if there is an emegerncy elsewhere, we are tied up."

The man has been cautioned by the police.

"When we can pin the call down to an address, we will go around to the house and hopefully do something about it. The man in this case denied everything but, without a shadow of a doubt, it was him on the tapes.

"It is something we are not prepared to put up with."

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "Hoax and malicious calls place an additional strain on the emergency services and, more importantly, put lives at risk. They stretch resources and hamper our response to people who genuinely need our help. They are completely unacceptable.

"We would warn any would-be hoaxers that all calls to the emergency services are recorded and the phone number logged, whether the call is made from a landline or mobile telephone. This enables us to trace and identify the caller and offenders could face up to six months in prison or a hefty fine."