A TEENAGER from Bolton has become one of the first people in Britain to be arrested on suspicion of making a series of hoax 999 fire calls to Army firefighters.

The 19-year-old was caught by police officers after they traced the time-wasting hoax calls to an address in Breightmet.

The arrest at 3.30am today comes at a time when hoax callers throughout the country are blighting the Army fighting operation.

The teenager was questioned by detectives before being released on police bail.

And today Bolton police chiefs issued a warning that anyone caught playing malicious pranks on the emergency services during the strike will be hauled before the courts.

Police said this afternoon that the teenager was arrested at a house after three bogus calls about chip pan fires were made from an address in Breightmet. The caller said a house was on fire and Green Goddess crews are believed to have attended -- putting residents across Bolton at risk.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "We are committed to tackling those persons who make hoax calls to the emergency services.

"Such calls waste valuable resources and could put people's lives in danger."

The news came as firefighters told the Bolton Evening News that they are ready to break their strike to save lives.

They have set up a hotline for Green Goddess crews to call if lives are at risk.

Two people were killed in blazes across the North-west last night. Bolton's firemen and women say they do not want lives to be lost in their home town.

One firefighter, who did not want to be named, said: "We are prepared to break our strike if lives are in danger.

"We care about the people of Bolton. We do not want anyone to be hurt while we are stood on the picket lines."

Firefighters at the Moor Lane station held a meeting at the station before deciding to set up the hotline.

Watch officers have given the police and the soldiers two phone numbers, one of them for a mobile phone, so fire crews can be contacted as a last resort.

Fire engines will be driven over the picket lines so that people can be rescued.

However the firefighters will not be covered by fire service insurance. If one of them is killed or injured, their families are unlikely to be paid any compensation.

The firefighter who spoke to the Bolton Evening News said: "The Army is doing a brilliant job. We have told them we will not put out fires in empty properties, but we will help them save lives if they need us.

"We realise our pensions could be put in jeopardy, but we are still prepared to take the risk if people are in danger."

Firefighters from Bolton's Moor Lane fire station station broke their picket lines yesterday after a woman pensioner collapsed in Bolton's open air market. They gave her first aid until paramedics arrived and took her to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The Prime Minister told Britain's firefighters today that they would not be allowed to cripple the economy with inflated pay claims.

Tony Blair warned Britain's 50,000 firefighters that meeting their pay claims would be unfair to other public sector workers.

But the Fire Brigades' Union said the press conference at Number 10 showed that Mr Blair was "rattled". They accused him of giving out contradictory messages to ministers.

FBU leader Andy Gilchrist said: "The significant problem now is that we have confusing and contradictory messages from very senior parts of the Government. Firefighters on the ground are unclear about what the Government's real position is."