AN incident commander from the fire and rescue service has encouraged people to report episodes of dangerous driving to the police straight away, in order to avoid wasting officers' time.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service received a call reporting a ‘significant fire’ in an underground car park in Wantage, just after 11pm on Saturday.

However, when the crews arrived at the scene, they found that the smoke and noise that had been created was due to 'dangerous driving' and ‘burn outs’ taking place in the car park.

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A spokesperson from the service said: “Given the nature of the building and the risks involved, three fire engines, from Didcot Fire Station Abingdon Fire Station and Faringdon Fire Station were dispatched to the scene, along with two officers from different locations in the county.”

Incident commander Jon Walker said: “This sort of dangerous and seemingly petty action has taken five frontline resources away from where they could have really been needed.

“This behaviour by the drivers creates a lot of smoke, causes stress and worry for local residents, not to mention the huge waste of fire service resources.

“If you see driving like this taking place, please contact Thames Valley Police and report it straight away.”

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi