FIRE officials have slammed a "malicious timewaster" after a house fire was reported that turned out to be a hoax call.
Burnley crew manager Gary Hargreaves said control room staff, who are trained to detect hoax calls, suspected that the 2am message, might be malicious.
But fire service protocol means that a crew must always be sent to check.
Mr Hargreaves said the call came from a phone box in Parkinson Street, Burnley, claiming that a house in the road was alight.
He said: "We take these calls very seriously because it diverts resources away from where they may be needed for a real emergency."
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