Police in hoax calls warning
Police are warning children about making hoax calls to emergency services after a series of reports.
A number of calls to emergency services have been made from a public phone box in Sutton Hill, Telford.
Police said some of the calls are silent, while in others children can be heard in the background.
Officers said they are using CCTV to identify the children responsible and over the next few weeks plan to visit them at home to discuss the calls.
PC John Walters, from the local Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “We know the calls are being made by children who probably think it is nothing but a bit of fun and a bit of a prank but what they might not realise is they are actually committing a criminal offence.
“Making hoax calls to emergency services wastes valuable resources, if a silent emergency call is received to police we will follow up the call to make sure the person isn’t in genuine danger and needs us.
“Of course, many people have a mobile phone these days but for some people a public payphone could be the only phone they have access to and if they can’t use it because it is being used by hoax callers this could have a significant impact, especially if they need to use it in an emergency.”
