MORE than 650 false alarm calls were made to Andover fire station over the last three years, the Advertiser can reveal.

The majority were made with “good intent” or were due to automated alarms going off, though 13 were deemed to be malicious.

Between April 2011 and March 2014, the Andover area recorded 657 false alarms, 74 per cent of which were due to alarms automatically sounding despite there being no fire.

Dad-of-three Martin Hanchant lost his family home in Longparish in February due to a devastating blaze and urged people not to make false calls to the service.

The electrician said: “No matter what people think of the emergency services in general, that is exactly what they are, emergency services.

“They save lives and so much more. People who waste their time are the biggest timewasters of all.”

The 657 false alarms were made in the Andover station ground area, which the fire service said referred to the geographical area which Andover fire station covers, including Wherwell, Weyhill and Ibthorpe.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “We respond to more than 3,500 false fire alarms each year.

“These are mostly made up of 999 calls made with good intent and call-outs where the alarm systems have activated when there is no real fire.

“The service is working hard to reduce false fire alarm callouts and is working with the business community to achieve this.

“A very small percentage of the false fire alarm calls we receive are of a malicious nature. False alarm calls divert us away from our primary role of preventing fires and attending real emergencies.”