False alarms: costly for the fire rescue service Pic: ©:STV
False fire call-outs caused by automatic alarms cost a fire brigade £235,000.
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said they dealt with more false alarms in 2009-10 than in the previous four years.
The cost of the call-outs of retained crews ran to £235,000.
Of 5,300 incidents involving automatic fire alarms 2,086 were false.
The service said staff were working with the "offending" organisations in an effort to reduce the causes of alarms being triggered unnecessarily.
