Prank calls to North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service endanger the lives of people involved in real blazes.

The Press has launched a bold new initiative to name and shame the hoax 999 callers, who are costing taxpayers £230,000 a year.

In partnership with the fire service, the newspaper is placing recordings of bogus calls online, with readers being urged to listen in to help identify the culprits.

Listen to audio clips of the hoax callers>>

Hoax 999 calls battle victory 2:21pm Fri 4 Jan 08 THEY are the scourge of our ambulance service - and the time they waste could make the difference between somebody living or dying.Reader comments (14) Crackdown on emergency service pranksters 3:18pm Sun 16 Dec 07 PRANKSTERS who dial 999 to ask for a chat with Santa are being told to think twice as part of a hard-hitting campaign aimed at saving lives.Reader comments (4) Name the hoaxers 7:04am Thu 11 Oct 07 THE people of York and North Yorkshire are being asked to help name and shame even more malicious hoax callers. Bogus 999 call drive is backed 10:45am Tue 2 Oct 07 A COUNCILLOR serving on North Yorkshire Fire Authority has lent his backing to The Press's bold new campaign to catch bogus 999 callers.Reader comments (6) Shop the hoaxers 11:00am Mon 1 Oct 07 FIRE chiefs in North Yorkshire are upping their fight against reckless hoax callers, who endanger lives and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.Reader comments (10) Most read Comments 1 Mindless 2 Village wakes up to find drain and manhole covers gone 3 Family and friends celebrate life of Ruby, the girl with unique style 4 Oops, Leo cuts loose on City... 5 Wroe woe 6 Rangers fans 'kidnap' bagpiper 7 Oriental steam 8 'A bad ID-ea' 9 Thief stored up trouble 10 Toseland to play piano at old folk’s complex Today | 7 Days 1 Baffled by booze ban 2 Unlucky felines can’t get home 3 Labour bids to control council 4 York village ‘bans’ plastic bags 5 Tributes to Ruby Milnes 6 ‘Dismal’ situation at overcrowded kennels 7 Police praise for ‘sensible’ bikers 8 Bus cuts cause chaos 9 City station invaded by football fans 10 Minster revamp plans submitted