FIREFIGHTERS are hoping members of the public will help them catch a young hoaxer who is putting lives at risk in Darlington.

Over the last couple of weeks, County Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade have received a number of calls from the hoaxer.

On each occasion he has told the operator that his sister is trapped in a burning house in Stooperdale Avenue, Cockerton, Darlington.

But when firefighters have raced to the scene, they discover that there is no blaze.

The malicious calls, made from a telephone box on the corner of Stooperdale Avenue and Priory Avenue, have been recorded by the brigade and fire chiefs are hoping local people will recognise the young voice on the tape.

They will be playing the tape over a loudspeaker in the Cockerton area at 6pm tonight (Thursday).

The tape will be played to local schoolchildren and leaflets are also going to be circulated in the area.

Assistant divisional officer Alan Wray, district commander for Darlington, said he hopes the appeal will result in the youth either being caught or stopping making the calls.

"When we receive a call that a person is trapped in a house, we send a minimum of three fire appliances," he said.

"This means that on each occasion these calls have been made, Darlington fire station is left empty.

"If another call is received while they are out, we would have to call an appliance from another area and this could extend the time it takes to get to a fire.

So far this year, there have been 108 hoax calls made in Darlington and 18 of these have been made from the Cockerton area.

Mr Wray added: "This lad is putting lives at risk and we are asking for local people to help us stop him from making any more malicious calls, which could have horrendous implications."

Darlington police are aware of the situation and anyone with information about the hoaxer can contact them on (01325) 467681. People may also contact Crime-stoppers on 0800 555 111.