Two adults are thought to be responsible for the latest plague of hoax fire alerts in the Bolton area, rather than the children often associated with such nuisance calls. Frank Elson counts the cost - and the danger to people who may be facing a real emergency. HOAX calls to the emergency services are on the increase in Bolton -- and it is mainly because of two people.

It is not children who are to blame, but so-called adults who are putting lives at risk and wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money.

The main reason that call numbers are up -- by around 40 per cent on last year -- is the pair of serial callers who have appeared on the scene, people who are making a number of calls over a period of time.

The callers also seem to know what to say to cause the maximum aggravation.

The calls either refer to a town centre pub, or claim that people are trapped in a house fire. Where lives are at risk the emergency services take no chances.

The fire service sends three appliances, ambulances are placed on stand-by and the police send officers to the scene.

Fire service safety officer Shaun Higson said: "These people obviously know how to phrase their calls to cause as much damage as possible.

"When lives are on the line speed is essential. Our research shows that survivors from house fires are those rescued in the first five minutes. There is also a job for each member of the crew at each fire -- it is no use sending one appliance when two or three may be necessary.

"All the emergency services have plans drawn up for co-ordinated action in the case of lives being at risk. It is not just the fire service -- ambulances and the police are tied up."

A hoax call which results in three fire engines going to a non-existent fire costs around £1,000.

It is not possible to quantify a callout cost for an ambulance or the police in the same way but the cost is considerable -- and it is our money that is being wasted.

Greater Manchester Fire Service says the figure of £1,000 for each callout is based on the money paid to firefighters, and wear and tear to the appliances.

There are other costs. Fire appliances in one part of town cannot be fighting a real fire in another area. An ambulance on its way to a hoax call cannot be dealing with someone having a heart attack, and a policeman on his way to the hoax is not catching criminals.

In addition, although only one Greater Manchester fire officer has been injured in recent years -- saved by luck and the skill of fire service drivers -- there are a number of accidents every year caused by public-spirited motorists trying to get out of the way of speeding emergency service vehicles.

"It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed," said Sub Officer Higson.

"It is not children any longer causing these problems. Our Community Fire Safety Projects -- visits to school by fire officers -- have been very successful. We are dealing with people who left school before the projects began."

The two serial hoaxers currently working their evil in Bolton are thought to be in their mid-20s, judging from the sound of their voices.

The fire service has to send out three engines and an aerial appliance on each callout to the Bradshawgate pub because it is in the centre of town and firefighters are concerned at the numbers of people who could be at risk.

The second caller targets both Farnworth and Bolton with calls claiming that people are trapped in houses on fire.

Because the service has to take these calls equally seriously they have resulted in as many as five fire engines being out at the same time dealing with emergencies that do not exist.

False alarms -- hoaxes or accidentally-triggered business alarms where fire engines are automatically called out -- accounted for 15 per cent of the 100,000 callouts Greater Manchester Fire Service received last year.

The fire service is hitting back, however, with a serious effort being put into catching hoaxers and halting false alarms. Human error, poor maintenance and faulty systems in businesses can add to the alarm problem.

Sub Officer Higson said: "If you set off a smoke detector by mistake at home it will just annoy you for 30 seconds. If you do it in a business it is disturbing employees and customers and ties up three fire appliances." Any companies who want advice on their fire alarm systems should contact Sub Officer Higson on 905139.

Hoax calls in Bolton and surrounding areas are not simply confined to false reports of fires. One phone pest left hundreds of youngsters at Bolton Lads and Girls Club heartbroken after a promised day out at Alton Towers proved to be false.

And hoax bomb threats are a constant worry. However, one Radcliffe man learned that hoaxes are not funny when he was jailed for nine months for making a bomb threat last year.

Kenneth York rang the Arndale Centre in Manchester when he was drunk and claimed in an Irish accent that he had placed a bomb in the centre.

Judge Bruce Macmillan said the Court of Appeal had made it clear that deterrent sentences should be passed to stop others from doing the same thing.

Sub officer Higson said: "We are catching more hoaxers and the courts are more aware of the problem. Custodial sentences are getting to be the norm."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they were investigating both cases of hoax fire calls.