A PRANK that cost firefighters 20 minutes of duty time has prompted officers to point out the dangers of making malicious phone calls to the emergency services.
Firefighters from Accrington were called out to reports of a fire on Charter Street at 8.43am on Saturday.
When they arrived they discovered they had been the subject of a prank and that the call-out had been a false alarm.
Watch manager Craig Etherington said that the wasted journey could have ultimately cost lives.
He added: "We cannot be in two places at once."
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