YORK University has escaped prosecution in a row over fire crews attending a student protest.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service today confirmed it would not be prosecuting the university over an incident on Wednesday in which firefighters went to the campus.

Fire officers say they will be charging an undisclosed call-out fee for their attendance at the protest over university security.

Two fire crews went to the campus after the university contacted them to discuss the demonstration.

Campus staff feared a sit-in by more than 400 students at Heslington Hall was causing a fire risk.

Fire service spokesman Terry Glover yesterday described it as a "hoax" call and said the service had not ruled out prosecuting the university.

Today, the brigade's divisional officer, Dave Hall, said the incident had highlighted the high number of emergency calls received from the campus and said they would be forging closer links to try and reduce that.

He said: "53 per cent of calls to North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service are false alarms and the university is one of the biggest culprits. We are entering into positive discussions with the university to improve this and have explained clearly to them that crews were not necessary at this type of incident when they could have been needed for a real emergency."

He said an officer attending the scene to advise the management would have been the appropriate course of action.

He said: "It was a difficult situation for the university with so many students occupying the building. It was an issue of public safety and we could have advised them. It was not appropriate to mobilise the fire crews."

Hilary Layton, speaking for the university, said: "The fire brigade told us that it did recognise that there was a risk. We judged the situation as a safety risk because they students had not evacuated the building when the fire alarm sounded. What would have happened if there had been a real fire?

"We have agreed to pay the call-out charge and we are meeting with them in the future to discuss protocol for any other similar situations."

Updated: 11:30 Friday, February 15, 2002