A HOAX caller admitted wasting "thousands" of pounds of police resources after claiming that there was a body in the river.

Rebecca McCluskey from Kenwood Avenue called 999 to say that there was a body in the River Severn, near Portland Street a court heard.

Ten police officers including a dog handler, two fire rescue boats and a police helicopter were all dispatched to scene, as well as a fire engine and an ambulance on Thursday September 7 at 10.50pm.

The 24-year-old had text her partner to say she was going to jump in the river, which prompted him to come to the scene.

When he did arrive, he spoke to police about the message, who realised it was a hoax call as McCluskey had remained by the riverside.

Peter Love, prosecuting said: "McCluskey phoned 999 when she was walking her dog to say that she had seen a woman in the river who was struggling.

"When services arrived, she was talking to fire commanders by the riverbank and kept saying she had seen a woman in the river.

"She became distressed and started crying, exclaiming that she feared a dead body would be found.

"A young man arrived on the scene and said he thought he might know who was in the river.

"When he said it was Ms McCluskey, police put two and two together.

"She was then interviewed and admitted it was a hoax.

"Police officers then took her home and saw a glass of wine in her flat.

"When asked how much she had had to drink, she said it was about a bottle and a half of wine."

Police officers reported that she was speaking "coherently" and did not "appear drunk."

Mr Love added: "She wasted a substantial amount of resources.

"Police are not applying for compensation, but I imagine it would be in the thousands if they had."

Sunil Jagatia, defending said: "She found out that her partner of two years was planning to go on holiday and she did not want him to go.

"A number of promises he made had been broken and he said he was going to get back with his ex-wife.

"Their conversation became heated and she said she was going to self harm, but he did not care.

"This was when she made the very naive decision to say she was going to jump in the river, in order to get his attention.

"She understands now the substantial amount of resources which were wasted.

"(After the incident) she was taken to Newtown Mental Health Unit voluntarily, but they found that she did not have any issues, other than depression and anxiety.

"She is now back on anti-depressants. She is hoping to find work, and had an interview for a sales assistant role yesterday."

The chairman of the magistrates bench, Harry Turner described her actions as "appalling" and said she had "caused danger to the city."

Mr Turner said: "First of all, we find this appalling. Not only did you waste the taxpayers money, but you also caused danger to the city as these resources were not available for real emergencies.

"Because of this we feel that it has crossed the custody threshold and you are a heartbeat away from being in prison for this reckless act."

The court also heard McCluskey had previously had problems with alcohol but had not drunk since the incident.

McCluskey was given a four month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £30.

She appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court on Thursday (October 12).

Superintendent Martin Samuel of West Mercia Police, said: “Our emergency numbers provide a vital service for people to contact us regarding critical matters – but using it inappropriately detracts from all the cases where people genuinely need our help.

“Every call takes time to answer and assess properly for our response. For every misdirected call we receive, people who do require a police response may have to wait longer to have their call answered at the busiest times.”

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said it costs £200 per ambulance but that the bigger concern with hoax calling is that the resource is not available for real emergencies.