ARMED police were mobilised as part of a major operation after a 21-year-old man claimed he had been held at gunpoint.

Blackburn magistrates heard the false alarm was raised in the Witton area of Blackburn by Craig Short Coulson just weeks after a teenager had been blasted in the chest with a shotgun.

Police secured the park perimeter and armed response units from Blackburn and Burnley were called in. The force helicopter was put on stand by, a firearms tactical adviser contacted and senior police personnel alerted as the force deployed for what they were treating as a very serious firearms incident. But it was all a lie.

Coulson, of Nutter Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to wasting police time and was bailed until December 15 for reports.

The chairman said the magistrates took a very serious view of the offence and said Coulson should understand that it was punishable by imprisonment.

"We want to find out why you did this and we will be keeping all sentencing options open," said the chairman. "We have got to consider your sustained denial of this matter over the last six months when you in fact knew you were guilty."

The case had been due for trial until Coulson entered a guilty plea at the last minute.

Phillip Potter, prosecuting, said it was an extremely unusual offence. He said: "Considerable police resources were diverted to this incident. which meant they were not available to deal with other matters.

"Also, the officers were put under the pressure of believing they were dealing with a firearms offence."

Coulson had told police that he had been sitting at a bus stop when a man came up to him and put a gun to his head. The man later forced him down a back alley, still holding the gun to his head, before disappearing suddenly.

But video surveillance footage told a different story. It showed Coulson sitting at the bus stop but he was not approached by anybody there or in an alleyway later. He had knocked on the door of a nearby house and told his story to the occupant, who described him as "crying and shaking."

Paul Schofield, defending, said the major question was why on earth his client had behaved in this way.

He said: "I have to say I do not know the answer.

"It does seem that once this odd behaviour was started and the sequence of events put into motion it has become more and more difficult for him to stop."