a hoax caller who sparked a rescue alert by claiming his friend had fallen down a

ventilator shaft was today condemned by firefighters.

The boy hoaxer called the fire brigade control room in Chichester saying his friend had fallen down the shaft above the Sharpthorne Tunnel, part of the Bluebell Line at Sharpthorne, south of East Grinstead.

Fire crews from Turners Hill, East Grinstead and Crawley rushed to the scene and searched the tunnel, vent ducts, water culverts and wells but found nothing.

Police, ambulance crews and 14 firemen spent an hour and a half on the wild goose chase.

Richard Bentley, divisional officer with West Sussex Fire Brigade, said: "This type of malicious call is highly irresponsible. It wasted the valuable time of 14 firefighters, the Bluebell Railway volunteer fire staff, ambulance and police."

The incident comes just weeks after the brigade launched a crackdown on hoaxers.

Control room operators will soon be equipped with call-tracing facilities and an improved monitoring

system which allows operators to pinpoint the location of callers.

County fire officer Ken Lloyd said: "The seriousness of malicious calls should not be under-

estimated. They take up vital brigade resources that may be needed elsewhere for a real emergency and represent a threat to life."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.