Coastguard teams called to 'false alarm' in Bognor Regis

Teams were first paged to reports of an arm waving for help off to sea outside Butlin's in Bognor Regis at 11.01pm.

Alongside the Selsey Coastguard Rescue Team, the Littlehampton Coastguard Rescue Team and both lifeboats from the Littlehampton Lifeboat Station were also tasked.

Lifeboats conducted a search out at sea, and coastguard teams conducted a search along the East and West of the reported incident, but neither found anything.

"With nothing found and no further information coming in, we believed this was a false alarm this time, with the call being made with good intentions," a spokesperson said.

"There was a marker buoy in the same location where the first informant saw the possible arm waving, and we believe it to be mistaken for this."

The spokesperson insisted the informant did the right thing by calling 999 and asking for the coastguard, adding: "It's always better to be safe than sorry."

In an emergency out at sea, on the beach or along the coast, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

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