Bridlington 10-year-olds 'behind 999 call hoax' Published duration 31 July 2012

media caption The 999 call was made in July. Police later confirmed the call was a hoax

Two 10-year-old girls were behind a hoax 999 call which sparked a search for a three-year-old girl and her sick mother in Leeds, police have confirmed.

The girls, both from East Yorkshire, made the call, one of them pretending to be a three-year-old trapped at home with her mother who had collapsed.

The call could not at first be traced, but was later found to have been made in Bridlington, said police.

The two girls had since been "spoken to", West Yorkshire Police said.

'Incredibly frustrating'

Officers were liaising with the girls' parents and partner agencies to take appropriate action, said West Yorkshire Police.

Det Ch Insp Lisa Griffin said: "We are pleased that our investigation has shown that we don't have a vulnerable little girl out there with her mum collapsed beside her."

image caption West Yorkshire Police and the Ambulance Service appealed for help in finding the girl and her mother

However, it was "obviously incredibly frustrating" that the 999 call had turned out to be a hoax, she said.

During the call to the ambulance service, which lasted 33 minutes, it was claimed that the caller's mother had fallen and could not get up in their house in Leeds.

The girl said she had shouted at her mother and wiggled her but she remained on the kitchen floor with a piece of toast in her hand, not moving.

The front and back door were locked and she could not get out of the house, she said.

Ms Griffin said: "This incident again highlights how misuse of the 999 system can cause significant unnecessary work for the emergency services who have limited resources to deal with genuine calls for help from members of the public."