LONER Nigel Afford made 999 calls because he wanted someone to talk to when he couldn't reach his mum.

Afford, 26, of Hill Top Road, east Oxford, made 26 calls to Thames Valley police in the space of 100 minutes and rang the fire brigade three times in two days last October.

When crews answered his first call they were sent to an address which does not exist. Later calls directed them to Southfield Road, to a blaze that never happened.

Sue Davies, prosecuting, told Oxford magistrates yesterday that Afford - who told 999 operators his name was Kevin - was arrested after fire officer Alan Stilman spotted him in a phone box in Morrell Avenue minutes after one call. His voice was found to be a match when tapes of his calls were replayed by police.

Robin Smith, defending, said Afford had been drinking heavily and could not remember making the calls. his only recollection was trying to ring his mum.

Mr Smith said Afford had a "solitary and isolated existence" and might just have wanted to hear a voice.

He said: "He has no friends. He had been drinking alone. He lives alone, albeit in shared accommodation. That general scenario is the only thing that might be put forward. He simply wanted to make contact with somebody and when he couldn't speak to his mother he wanted to speak to somebody else."

He said Afford only drank every three or four weeks and suggested his beer money should go to the fire service.

Afford, given a 12-month conditional discharge, was ordered to pay £229.80 to the county council for the cost of sending out the fire engines, and £40 costs.

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