15,700 hoax calls responded to

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The ambulance and fire services in Northern Ireland have responded to more than 15,700 hoax calls over the last five years, it has emerged.

The information was released by the assembly after a written question from the SDLP's Thomas Burns.

The fire service have responded to 6,690 in the period, the ambulance service 9,022 calls.

"People need to realise that hoax calls don't just cost money, they could cost lives," Mr Burns said.

"This huge volume of prank calls means that firemen and paramedics who should be attending genuine emergencies are tied up responding to malicious false alarms.

"Calling out ambulances or the fire brigade 'for a laugh' is absolutely criminal and people who engage in such behaviour should be treated as such. I want to see them named and shamed.

"However I am glad to see that there has been a significant decrease in the number of hoax calls in the past year, so the message must be getting through," he added.