A stern warning has been issued to the public to refrain from reporting false cases which take away police resources from actual cases.

It comes after two individuals were caught lying about a hijacking and kidnapping case which was reported to Woodstock police.

Upon investigation the Serious and Violent Crimes Investigations Unit found that there was a delay in time in the tracker reports. Confronted with this information the complainants aged 24 and 31 admitted that they had parked in Liesbeeck Park Way where they had lunch. They had staged a hijacking and kidnapping to avoid facing disciplinary action as they were not supposed to be at that location.

Police say the pair now face charges of perjury.