FIREFIGHTERS are warning that lives are being put at risk after they received a malicious call last night.

A crew from Accrington were called out at 8pm to what was given as a skip on fire behind a takeaway in Ormerod Street in the town.

But when they got there they found there was no skip and discovered that the call had been made from a telephone box in nearby Garbutt Street.

And they are warning children not to play near fire-engines after an eight-year-old boy was found playing with the dust cap on the wheel of an engine and say that he could have been killed if the engine had set off.

Sub officer Gary Monk said: "We have had a lot of malicious calls from that area over the years.

"We can't be in two places at once and it is putting people's lives at risk."

Mr Monk said that witnesses saw two boys described as Asian riding off from the telephone box on bikes.

He added: "Just as worryingly, an eight-year-old Asian boy was seen messing around with the dust cap on the wheel. The driver luckily spotted him and challenged him.

"If the driver had set off the boy could have been dragged into the wheel and been seriously injured or killed.

"If children have a fascination for fire engines that is fine but we must warn them not to mess around with fire equipment.

"It could put other people's lives in danger, themselves or our own."