South Essex has been declared one of the worst areas for hoaxes in the region as another night of false alarms kept Basildon's only Green Goddess busy.
Emergency - a Goddess crew tackles a blaze in York Road, Southend. Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL FVH3C5
An Army team with special breathing apparatus and a Green Goddess from a neighbouring district were dispatched to a block of flats in Caister Drive, Basildon, following a malicious call at 10.35pm yesterday.
Basildon's ageing vehicle was already tied up following a call half an hour earlier to a genuine incident - a bin fire in Clayburn Circle where just last week a community centre on the estate was destroyed by 40ft flames.
There were two further hoaxes yesterday afternoon - one in Laindon at 4pm and another in Rochford at 4.20pm - followed by a string of other malicious calls.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "Hoaxes are proving to be a real problem. Lives will be put at risk if there is an emergency because a hoax call will slow down our response time."
More in today's Evening Echo
Published Friday November 15, 2002
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