A bomb hoaxer who brought the centre of Swindon to a standstill has been jailed.

Aldo Ferraro, who told police he planted a bomb at social services' headquarters, was jailed for 18 months with half the term suspended.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to making the call in the early hours of August 1.

Ferraro, who believed social workers had not done enough for his troubled family, used a public telephone outside Swindon Central Police Station.

Claiming to have used bomb-making instructions from a website, he waited more than 12 hours before admitting there was no bomb.

Sentencing him at Swindon Crown Court, Judge Tom Longbotham told him: "Unfortunately, the action that you took involved so many people.

"There is, of course, an effect upon the emergency services and the police.

"There is an effect upon members of the public who are highly inconvenienced by actions of this nature, and not only inconvenienced but very often placed in fear."

Ferraro, 49, of no fixed abode, has two previous convictions, both for criminal damage. In 1996 he threw a rock through a window at Swindon Magistrates Court and in 1998 he set off 32 stink bombs in the council offices at Wat Tyler House.

Following the bomb alert, social services' headquarters at Clarence house in Euclid Street were sealed off, along with much of the surrounding area.

Prosecutor Ian Halliday told yesterday's hearing: "Shortly after 4am on August 1, Swindon Central Police Station got a telephone call at the control room from a telephone placed outside the police station for the use of members of the public."

Ferraro was arrested there after making the threat.

He told officers there was a bomb in Clarence House, that he had made it using plans found on the Internet, and that it could be activated by mobile telephone or a timer.

He maintained his story all day, as sniffer dog teams combed Clarence House.

Then at about 4.30pm, said Mr Halliday, Ferraro looked at his watch and admitted there had never been a bomb.

Solicitor advocate Rob Ross, defending, said Ferraro committed the offence because he felt the social services department had not done enough to help solve problems he and his family were suffering.

Mr Ross added: "In layman's terms, he had reached the end of his tether.

"His family situation had gone as low as it possibly could."

Ferraro had been in custody for more than three months, and this will count as part of his sentence.

Swindon Council's social services department was not available for comment.