Three bored cleaners at the Floriana health centre who whiled the time away playing games on a mobile phone ended up in court after making a hoax bomb threat.

Prosecuting officer Priscilla Caruana Lee told the court that, on January 29, the police were informed that the Floriana health centre had received a telephone call with a bomb threat.

The centre was evacuated as members from the bomb disposal unit arrived on site.

Following investigations, the police tracked down the mobile phone from which the call was made. The phone was registered under a woman's name who said that her daughter, Tiziana Vella, made use of the phone.

Under interrogation, Ms Vella admitted that she and another two colleagues, Sandra Ellul and Christine Spiteri - who all worked as cleaners at the Floriana Health - had decided to make the fake bomb threat call.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud heard how Ms Ellul had told the police that the idea occurred to them as she was playing a game on her mobile phone which featured the sound of a bomb exploding.

The case continues on April 15. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Pawlu Lia, Franco Debono and Angie Muscat are defending the accused.