POLICE in a Somerset town are hunting a hoax caller who has made TEN 999 calls from the same phone box this month.

Officers have attended, but on each occasion the incidents reported were not found.

In the latest hoax call out from the kiosk in The Shambles, Castle Cary, TEN police officers and an air ambulance were despatched to the town, only to again discover there was no ongoing incident.

A spokesperson for South Somerset Neighbourhood Policing said: "Since the start of October, police have received 10 calls from the public phone box situated in The Shambles, Castle Cary of varying nature.

"When police have attended, no one has been present and the incidents reported have not been found. We believe these to be hoax calls.

"On Friday, October 22, a call was received from the same phone box.

"This call resulted in 10 police officers and air ambulance being despatched to Castle Cary.

"On arrival no one was found and no incident was ongoing.

"Again we believe this to be another hoax call resulting in thousands of pounds of public money being wasted.

"We are appealing to anyone with any knowledge of the individuals involved to contact Wincanton Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101. This information can be supplied anonymously.

"An investigation is underway as under section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 (CLA 1967), it is an offence to cause a wasteful employment of the police by knowingly making a false report – either orally or in writing – to the police or anyone else."

If you are caught wasting police time, you could be jailed for up to six months and/or fined.

Instead of taking you to court, the police might issue you with a fixed penalty notice under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (CJPA 2001).