The South Wales coastguard has made a plea to potential hoax-callers not to contact the emergency services unless someone's safety is genuinely at risk.
The plea follows a hoax call made to the Swansea Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at 11.22 on Sunday evening by a young man who said his friend had fallen over a cliff and needed urgent help.
Coastguard Rescue Teams from Llantwit Major and Porthcawl responded to the alert, along with Fire, Ambulance and Police units, but when they arrived on the scene there was no one to be found. When they re-dialled the mobile phone number from which the original call had been made, they were answered by friends at a party.
The incident is now being investigated by South Wales Police and Swansea Coastguard, who are trying to establish the identity of the hoax caller.
Swansea Coastguard stressed that hoax calls put rescuers' lives at risk unnecessarily and also tie up rescue teams who may be needed elsewhere to deal with genuine emergencies.
The problem is particularly acute at this time of year when there are more people at sea and on the coast than usual, making emergency calls more frequent, and the need to channel the rescue services' resources to the most serious incidents all the more acute.
For more information about the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, visit their website.
Images thanks to BBC news.
