FIREFIGHTERS in Essex were called to dozens of “imaginary”emergencies after its 999 call handling system failed.

Testing was taking place on a new emergency call system on Wednesday, which resulted in numerous false incidents being generated.

Fire engines were deployed across the county, but Essex Fire and Rescue Service insists public safety was not affected.

The service withdrew its new call system in late March after faults were reported, with the Fire Brigades Union claimed they were delaying the response to emergency incidents. Wednesday’s problems arose while the new system was being tested in the background, while genuine 999 calls were handled with the service’s old system.

Riccardo la Torre, chairman of the FBU in Essex, said: “The mobilising system has been suffering endemic failures for months now.

“The FBU has raised this again and again, but Essex Fire and Rescue are just not listening.

“One minute fire chiefs were reassuring fire authority members things were fine, the next the whole system went haywire, mobilising fire engines all across the county to fake incidents.”

The union claims the majority of fire stations across Essex responded to imaginary incidents, and estimates there may have been as many as 100 call-outs.

A fire service spokesman said: “We can confirm some appliances were mobilised during a system test.

“At no time was public or firefighter safety compromised.

“All of our crews responded professionally throughout – this is what they do every day.

“We are investigating the cause and what actions could have been taken to prevent it happening.”