Police officers are on the hunt for a hoax caller who firefighters say is putting the public at risk.

The calls have been made in Tregony, between Truro and St Austell, with the latest at 8.10pm on Monday evening, when a 999 call was made from a public payphone in Fore Street.

A fire service spokesman said that ayoung boy caller stated that his house was on fire and went into detail to describe that his mother, father and sister were trapped inside.

Two fire appliances from St Dennis Community Fire Station and one fire appliance from Truro Community Fire Station attended along with ambulance and police. 

The spokesman added: "Following further enquiries and a search of the village, no fire was found and the call confirmed as a hoax. Whilst the emergency services were investigating this call, they were not available to respond to any genuine emergencies that may have occurred in the area. During this time, Fire Control staff were also dealing with a report of a serious road traffic collision with people trapped on the A30, near Bodmin.

"Hoax calls have been made to Ambulance Control from the same payphone for the past couple of evenings, indicating that the boy is from the village. Anyone with information relating to who may have made these hoax calls are asked to contact the police."

He added that parents are being asked to talk to their children about the seriousness of making hoax calls.