A UK adult phone service is sending two models to Mayo tomorrow to apologise to residents who have been receiving calls from its clients. 

The chatline Babestation operates a premium rate phone service with the 0982 prefix for British callers.

However, if Irish callers forget to input the international dialing code, the number instead goes through to Westport.

Edwin McGreal, a journalist with The Mayo News, says it is not the first time residents have received such calls.

On this morning's Pat Kenny Show, Edwin explained: "I did speak to someone who was on the receiving end of the phone calls in the Westport area - Fianna Fáil County Councillor Brendan Mulroy. It was something that affected them five years ago, and they actually had to get rid of the landline in order to stop it.

"He said he didn't hear of it affecting anyone else until in recent days the news emerged [that] Minister of State Michael Ring had received a number of complaints from constituents."

Those affected have been receiving some late night calls, with Councillor Mulroy saying that when he was impacted the phone would start ringing from around 10pm at night.

"He said he'd answer, and needless to say people weren't expecting to hear a west of Ireland male voice at the end of the line," Edwin explained.

"He might be met with silence, he might be met with 'oh sorry, wrong number'. Sometimes before he'd get a word in... One particular time he was asked 'are you the woman from the television?' The male voice then obviously confirmed that it wasn't the person off the television."

He added that there has been plenty of prank calls through to Westport residents since the news broke in recent days. "That's become an offshoot of the whole story," Edwin said.