Emergency crews are hunting for a hoax caller who rang 999 claiming two people were trapped in a Lancashire river.
The sick stunt has been blasted by fire chiefs who claim the individual put real lives at risk by wasting the time of so many from the rescue services.
A hoaxer rang 999 from a mobile phone claiming two people were trapped in the River Lune near Lancaster at 10am on Saturday morning.
A major search ensued, involving 15 firefighters, and a number of police and ambulance crews all looking for the two reported individuals.
Extra firefighters from Preston, were called to help the search as they had a specialist search and rescue boat to scour the large stretch of the water alongside a Holiday Inn.
After two hours of looking the crews had no clues to the whereabouts of the two missing people and called the search off after mid-day.
Police repeatedly called the mobile phone used to report the incident but the caller refused to pick up and the call was deemed a hoax.
The phone has since been barred from use.
Lancaster Fire Station watch manager, Karl Vietoris, said: "Whoever did this should think about their actions from the point of view of it was them who needed our help.
"If a hoax call comes it may be them or someone they know that suffers as a result.
"There were three appliances helping with the search, with two from Lancaster, and each shipped four or five people plus support from Preston who launched their boat.
"One of the crews was specially trained in water rescue and they were searching the banks in an inflatable rescue sled.
"The caller mobilised three vital services for two hours and put lives at risk.
"It was a total waste of time and resources and the implications could have been a lot more serious.
"An investigation is underway to catch whoever did this."
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