False alarms still make up the highest percentage of all incidents responded to by Mid and West Wales fire crews, a report has said, with almost 6,000 false alarm callouts during 2023/24.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) has published its latest Performance and Improvement Progress Report which provides a comprehensive overview of MAWWFRS’s performance and operational response from April 2023 to March 2024.

Data shows that the number of fires attended by MAWWFRS over the past year has dropped by almost 15 per cent, from 3,023 incidents in 2022-2023, to 2,582 in 2023-2024.

Fires, whether accidental or deliberate, make up only 19.8 per cent of the total number of incidents attended.

There has been a corresponding rise in road collision, while flooding incidents attended by fire crews have risen 12 per cent year on year.

Bu, the data shows, false alarms still make up the bulk of callouts.

In a bid to tackle that issue, the Service recently announced a change to the way it responds to Automatic Fire Alarm, which began on 1 July.

The overall number of incidents attended by MAWWFRS crews rose by two per cent compared to last year.