Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been called out to more than 400 hoax fire calls over the past five years, new data has revealed. 

Hoax calls are deliberate false fire alarms, which can divert emergency services from genuine incidents, putting lives and property at risk.

While the number of malicious calls has fluctuated since 2020, they have contributed to around 90 callouts every year in Berkshire - totalling 426 in the last four years. 

Meanwhile since 2019, the service has visited 18,623 false fire alarms causing a strain both financially and on the use of resources.

Over the past year, the service has experienced a jump in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 4,212 to date from 2023 to 2024, according to a Freedom of Information request from insurance firm Personal Injury Claims UK.

At the end of September, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue (RBFRS) changed its call-out policy so that crews no longer attend automatic fire alarms except for specific circumstances. 

RBFRS will continue to attend automatic fire alarm notifications at schools, at higher risk buildings and where anyone sleeps, such as hotels, hospitals, care homes, houses, and flats. 

A representative from the fire service said: “As a Fire and Rescue Service, it is our duty to respond to fires, not to automatic fire alarms, which we know on 99% of occasions were false alarms.  

“We have changed the way we respond to Automatic Fire Alarms in certain types of buildings from 20 September 2024.

“We want to reduce the number of false alarm calls to ensure firefighters are free to respond to genuine emergencies. Additionally, attending false alarm calls creates a significant disruption to other more risk-critical activities.”

In all cases, an emergency response will continue to be sent to 999 calls and confirmed fires.  

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Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended at 38 percent. 

They prove to be costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1 billion a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.