A journalist is to appear in court next month after allegedly making a hoax call to a mountain rescue team during November’s devastating floods.

Sarah Louise Crickmer, 27, of South Shields, faces two charges following an incident near Skiddaw involving the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, the Carlisle-based News and Star reported on Friday.

Crickmer is charged under the Communications Act 2003 with sending a false message by public electronic communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety on November 26 last year.

She will appear in West Allerdale Magistrates’ Court, Workington, on 4 June.

At a previous court appearance, it was claimed that Crickmer had been seeking to establish whether the volunteer rescue services had the ability to cover on-hill emergencies at a time mountain rescue teams were at full stretch dealing with the floods.