‘Disgraceful' prank caller wastes firefighters’ time with hoax report of blaze at a Portsmouth tower block

MINDLESS prank callers wasted firefighters’ time with a hoax report of a blaze at a Portsmouth tower block.
By ron Melton
Published 10th Feb 2019, 11:41 BST
Updated 11th Feb 2019, 10:16 BST
A Hampshire Fire and Rescue fire engine in Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (240119-9)A Hampshire Fire and Rescue fire engine in Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (240119-9)
A Hampshire Fire and Rescue fire engine in Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (240119-9)

Crews from Southsea and Portchester attended what they were told was a fire at a high rise in Portsea at 2.48pm yesterday. 

However, when they arrived they learned the report was a fake – and they had been diverted when someone else could potentially have been facing a genuine emergency. 

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Taking to Twitter, a spokesperson for Portchester Fire Station said the caller had ‘tied up emergency crews for no reason'. 

User Kevin Wheeler replied and said: ‘Absolutely disgraceful. Tying up appliances for no good reason. Hope the perpetrator is caught and prosecuted.’