Senior firefighters say the proposals could save time and money

Senior officers have said thousands of hours are wasted each year dealing with hoax calls.

From Friday the county's public will be asked for their views on whether firefighters should be selective about which calls they attend.

The Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) has said the change could cost lives.

We think it's a dangerous game to get into, the statistics or percentages game Mark Simmonds, Fire Brigades Union

Plans to reform the fire service in England and Wales were at the centre of a government white paper unveiled by John Prescott in the wake of the firefighters' strikes at the end of last year.

Each area's fire brigade is due to announce its own plans for reform.

Kent Fire Brigade has previously treated every 999 call as an emergency but senior officers are concerned at the number of hoax calls.

They have cited an example of a phone box in Firethorn Close in Gillingham, which has become notorious among Kent firefighters for the number of hoax calls made from it.

They believe being able to be selective as to which calls they respond to could save thousands of hours and thousands of pounds a year.

But Mark Simmonds, a Kent representative of the FBU, said it could mean genuine emergency calls being ignored.

He said: "We think it's a dangerous game to get into, the statistics or percentages game, where you say that 99% of calls are false alarms.

"That opens the door to 1% being genuine calls."