Firefighters warn people not to make hoax calls after 'malicious' call out to a pub in Portsmouth early this morning

Crews from Southsea and Cosham rushed to a premises in Albert Road, Southsea, at 12.55am on May 20 after reports of smoke coming from the fire exit of the building.

When they arrived a ‘confused’ landlord came down after ‘hearing the commotion’ and showed them that there was no fire.

Firefighters traced the call and found it came from a phone box.

Cosham were then promptly called to a skip fire at the Veolia waste site in Quartremaine Road, which was ‘quickly’ extinguished.

A firefighter from Southsea told The News: ‘We went there after calls that there was smoke coming from the fire exit but when we got there there was nothing at all.

‘If there had been a real fire happening at the time that would have delayed us getting there – Cosham were in fact called to another fire.’