Almost 200 fire appliances are called out to hoax calls every day, wasting precious time and resource and more importantly, putting peoples' lives at risk. Our emergency services are often stretched to the limit and hoax calls to 999 are proving to be a continuous problem.

What is a Hoax Call?

Over 31 million calls were made to 999 in 2001 in the UK and this figure rose to 34.5 million by the year 2002. 15.5 million calls came from a BT line and 2.6 million of those, originated from a BT payphone. When transferred through to the emergency services by a BT Operator, a staggering 40% of the 15.5 million (6.25 million) were considered to be false. Fire Officers in the UK are concerned at the worryingly high volumes of hoax calls and are quoted as saying "Malicious calls reduce the efficiency of any fire service as fire engines cannot be in two places at once. If crews are responding to hoax calls, they are unavailable should a genuine call for help be received. Any delay attending an emergency incident could mean the difference between life and death."A successful poster campaign in telephone boxes, in September 2001, lead to a reduction in hoax call volumes from targeted kiosks by 56%

BT Payphones launched the initiative again the following year in September 2002.The aim this time was to reduce hoax call volumes further and raise public awareness, with a special emphasis on educating children about the implications of making malicious calls to 999.

Actor Michael Garner, better known as Jeff 'Poison' Pearce, from ITV's Londons' Burning, helps Soho Fire Stations' Red Watch to launch the 2002 Hoax Calls campaign on 9th October 2002.

Working with fire brigades from around the country, we identified over 2200 "at risk" BT public payphones and targeted them with a "Hoax Calls" poster warning people that malicious calls cost lives and asking them to think before they dial 999.

Additionally, throughout Great Britain, on the inside of kiosk glass, up to 7500 vinyl posters carried an anti-hoax calls message.