By Dean Murray
A coastguard team was called out to rescue a person in the sea – only to find it was a training dummy.
HM Coastguard Fleetwood rushed to the scene at Cleveleys, Lancashire on New Year’s Eve.
Thankfully, the emergency rescue crew was able to quickly assess that it was not a human in trouble.
HM Coastguard Fleetwood said: “We were paged at 10.30 to reports of an object in the sea, drifting north from the Cleveleys Vue.
“On arrival at Cafe Cove the first informant pointed out the object which was suspiciously, person-shaped but clearly not a person.
“Upon closer inspection of a video taken by the informant, we immediately recognized it as the type of dummy used for man overboard drills by maritime organizations and training schools.
“Since it was only in a couple of feet of surf, the officer in charge took the decision to send a rescuer into the water to perform a tethered rescue to prevent the dummy causing more concern and confusion as it drifted up the shoreline.
“After we had safely recovered our casualty to the promenade and made sure they didn’t require any further assistance, we handed them over to Wyre Council for disposal.
“Many thanks to the first informant who did absolutely the right thing in calling for us. From a distance, this made for a very concerning sight in the water.”
HM Coastguard Fleetwood said Holyhead Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) also attended.
