A SCOTTISH lifeboat station launched a lifeboat after reports of a person calling for help in nearby waters.
Kyle of Lochalsh RNLI had to launch after being alerted to a call from the UK Coastguard about a person being stranded in the water
The person was reported to be in the water close to Port Henderson in the Gairloch area and Kyle lifeboat Spirit of Fred launched at 7:00 pm to rescue them.
The lifeboat sped towards the victim and arrived at the scene at 7:40pm by which time the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter was already searching the area.
The lifeboat began a search alongside the Old Ronnie 2, Maighdean Mhara and Zeus who were all joined by Portree lifeboat 30 minutes later to begin the search.
At 9:30pm, with the area thoroughly searched, and no sign of any casualty, the search was stood down and it was deemed to be a false alarm with good intent.
Speaking of the incident, a Kyle spokesperson said: “We completed a thorough search of the area with the help of the other vessels involved and could not locate any sign of a casualty.
“Although it was a false alarm, the person who reported the incident did the right thing in calling the Coastguard. At this time of year there are a lot of people in and around the waters off our coast, and they thought they heard someone calling for help, so reporting it was definitely the correct thing to do.”
After the false alarm Kyle lifeboat returned back to the station and arrived back in Kyle at 10:15pm.
