THE number of false alarms attended by the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has reached its highest level in five years, with thousands of incidents recorded.

The Fire Brigades Union says false alarms use up resources and increase response times to real emergencies, but that “it is always better to be safe than sorry.”

Home Office figures show the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to 6,992 callouts in 2018-19 which proved to be false alarms, including 203 fake calls made to the service.

This was the highest number for five years – and 366 more than in 2017-18.

Two thirds were made following callouts by firefighting apparatus

29 per cent were calls made in good faith, where the caller believed that an incident was an emergency requiring the fire service.