Malicious hoax calls to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in the Hamilton area have increased by over 30 per cent.
A report by the fire service revealed that malicious false alarms were at a three-year high with 53 reported incidents in 2018-19, up from 35 in 2017-18.
Calls to secondary schools (16 per cent) and residential nursing homes (13 per cent) accounted for the highest number of hoax calls.
Hamilton South councillor Josh Wilson hit out and said: “Hoax calls are not only a waste of valuable time, but they endanger the lives of others – if a fire crew are attending a false alarm, they are not available to assist those that urgently require support.
“The fire service do outstanding work in the face of danger on a daily basis and their annual report proves that.
“We must continue to support their efforts and, in doing so, report anyone that is intent on undermining their life-saving work.”
