VALE residents are being threatened with arrest in a hoax call sweeping the area.

Police Scotland have warned people in Alexandria to be careful, after numerous reports were received of the attempted scam.

Scammers are apparently calling people out of the blue, claiming to be from the Inland Revenue.

The caller, whose number has been reported as 0300 200 1794, tells the resident to press number one on their phone, or "they will be arrested within 24 hours".

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Police have advised no one to give out their details to callers, and urged anyone else who has experienced the scam to contact them.

More information on how to deal with scammers can be found on the Police Scotland website.

A spokeswoman for HMRC told the Reporter: “We will only ever call you asking for payment on a debt that you are already aware of, either having received a letter about it, or after you’ve told us you owe some tax, for example through a Self-Assessment return.

“If someone calls claiming to be from HMRC saying you will be arrested, that we are filing a lawsuit against you and asks for information such as your name, card or bank details, then hang up and report it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk so we can work to take them off the network.”