FIREFIGHTERS in Bexley and across London are facing two menaces this summer.
One is the number of grass fires breaking out in parks and open spaces and the other is children making hoax 999 calls.
In 2009/10 borough firefighters responded on 39 occasions to emergency calls which, when the fire engines arrived at the scene, turned out to be hoaxes.
Over London as a whole, that figure rose to 2,453.
Borough fire commander for Bexley, Cyril O’Brien, said: “Clearly the biggest problem is these calls could prevent a fire engine from attending a real fire or emergency, and put lives at risk.”
The London Fire Brigade is hoping parents will talk to their children about the dangers on making hoax 999 calls.
Every year around 100 mobile phones are cut off because they are used for repeated hoax calls.
Details of callers can also be passed to the police.
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