Police have arrested a man following a false report of a hostage situation in Cheshire. Shortly before 8.15pm on Wednesday, April 27, police were called to reports that a man had taken two people hostage and had a gun in a property on Sutton Way in Ellesmere Port.
Officers, supported by the firearms unit, attended the scene where it was quickly established that this was a false report. A 48-year-old local man was arrested on suspicion of wasting police time and criminal damage.
He remains in custody being questioned by officers. Inspector Paul Fegan, of Ellesmere Port Local Policing Unit (LPU) condemned the hoax call and highlighted just how dangerous they can be.
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He said: "Any hoax call is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in Cheshire. This is another example of a waste of time and resources for an incident that snatched critical services away from those who need them most.
"The time spent dealing with these wholly inappropriate calls impacts our ability to deal with genuine emergencies - it can be the difference between life and death. If you are caught wasting police time you could face a six month jail term."
Emergency services across the UK, including fire and ambulance services, face immense pressures from tightening budget cuts and the lasting effects of the pandemic - yet they often become the target of hoax calls. In December, data revealed that the Scottish Ambulance Service spent more than 70 days dealing with hoax calls in the past eight years.
