As the contingency cover for emergency fire cover look towards the end of the two-day firefighters strike, it has been revealed that just under half of all the 999 calls made to emergency fire services were hoaxes.

Since the industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) began on Wednesday at 6pm - and up to 6am this morning - the emergency operations room had taken 319 calls, of which 137 were found to be hoaxes. However, for instances of genuine fire call outs, some FBU members have crossed picket lines to attend life-threatening emergencies - bolstering emergency services over-stretched by malicious callers.

In Londonderry firefighters crossed picket lines to help deal with a serious road traffic incident and provided first-aid to three people involved in the accident.

However, the unusually high level of hoax calls made to emergency services has strained the provision of emergency cover provide by the military and their police escorts. Police have promised to investigate and prosecute all hoax callers. Anyone convicted will face a possible prison term of up to six months.

FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist, in Belfast on Thursday evening as part of a whistle-stop tour in support of his members, admitted that the risk posed to military personnel in Northern Ireland who were providing emergency fire cover was a "concern".

SDLP assembly member Patricia Lewsley, speaking after a spate of hoax calls to the emergency firefighters last night, said: "This behaviour must be condemned and the general public must treat this situation more seriously. The fire brigade must treat each call-out as if it is a real emergency. Therefore as firefighters are dealing with hoaxes there is always the risk that a legitimate emergency could be occurring somewhere else and reaction time could be delayed as a result.

"This is a public safety issue and communities need to take responsibility. By making prank calls they are only making a bad situation worse."

The strike action by the FBU has seen around 1,800 whole-time firefighters in Northern Ireland involved in the industrial dispute over pay and conditions.

However, the Retained Firefighters Union which represents many part-time firefighters has not joined in the industrial action and 12 of the Province's fire stations are being kept open with 15 fire appliances in operation in addition to the 32 'Yellow Goddesses' being manned by trained military personnel.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott revealed yesterday in the House of Common that talks had broken down and the government were looking at alternative measures to help ensure better contingency cover in the event of a serious incident.

(SP)