HELICOPTERS were scrambled and a rescue boat launched after a man claimed his brother had jumped into the river at Selby.

Now Jason Robey has admitted wasting police time when he made the hoax 999 call earlier this year. Robey, 25, of Johnson Street, Selby, changed his plea after previously pleading not guilty to the charge and he will now be sentenced on August 4 after reports have been prepared.

Selby Magistrates’ Court heard how he had made a “full and frank admission” of his phone call to police.

Prosecutor Michael Hammond said that at 2.15am on Sunday, January 3, police received a 999 call from a man claiming to be Michael Robey, saying his brother, Jason Robey, had jumped from Selby toll bridge.

He said: “As a result, police and fire service resources were deployed and a Humberside police helicopter was brought in as part of the process of the search. Subsequently, the defendant was traced and interviewed and made a full and frank admission regarding the phone call.”

The Press reported at the time how the police initially believed the call was genuine and a rescue boat was launched at York.

The police helicopter from Humberside was also drafted in at a cost of £1,000 an hour to help with the search.

RAF Kinloss also became involved and scrambled a Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer in North-umberland, although it was stood down before it arrived.

In addition, dozens of police officers were involved in the search of the river, both on the ground and also behind the scenes, until police eventually deduced the call was a hoax.

Sgt Phil Holliday, of Selby Police, condemned the call.

He said: “We treat every call on its merit. We couldn’t think anything else other than it was genuine and the person at the other end of the phone kept affirming it was a genuine emergency.

“Ultimately, it turned out that this was what appears to be drunken foolishness which not only drains police resources, but leaves a lot of people short should they also need those resources.”