TRAP the hoax 999 callers! That is the call that is going out to our readers today.

The Bolton Evening News and the fire service are launching a joint campaign to track down the menaces who put other people's lives at risk by reporting false emergencies to the fire service.

And we are giving our readers the chance to listen to hoax callers in action so their voices can be identified.

You can hear today's hoax call of a woman making a false report about a fish and chip shop being on fire HERE. If you know the person after hearing the call, phone Crimestoppers, anonymously if you prefer, on their freephone number: 0800 555111.

Ian Duckworth, watch commander at Bolton Central Fire Station, said: "If you make hoax calls, eventually you will be caught.

"A hoax call puts lives at risk because, if we are dealing with a false report, we can't be somewhere else at the same time.

"With a house fire, every second is crucial."

Now, through the link between the fire service and the Bolton Evening News, anybody who makes a hoax call in future risks having that call heard by thousands of people with a very good chance that they will be tracked down.

Today's hoax calls features a woman making a false report of a fish and chip shop being on fire in Johnson Fold earlier this month. You can listen to it HERE.

It cost £1,700 for the fire service to turn out to that incident.

Bolton's firefighters were called out as a result of 306 hoaxes between April, 2005, and March this year nearly one a day at a total cost of more than £500,000.

Mr Duckworth said that, although a large proportion of calls were made by children, adults were responsible for a significant number of calls.

He said: "Groups of children like to make calls and get fire engines to come for a bit of a laugh, but with adults we can be dealing with people who carry them out for more malicious reasons.

"Some have mental problems, but we find that a lot send fire engines, police and pizza vans to certain addresses for retribution against a partner."

He added: "A significant proportion of hoax callers are also arsonists."

Mr Duckworth said schools have been visited in areas where firefighters had seen the number of hoax calls rise. Statistics show that hoax calls increase during the school holidays.

All 999 calls are traced and recorded and the fire service collaborates with mobile phone providers and can request that phones be disconnected.

Adults are likely to face a fine or prison.

Offenders can be fined £80 on the spot or be sent to court, which could result in either a £5,000 fine or six months in prison.

To listen to the first hoax caller click HERE