"Man in difficulty" turned out to be a plank of wood

Lifeboat crews based at Sunderland Royal National Lifeboat Institute RNLI Lifeboat Station was called into action as part of the multi-agency air and sea rescue operation off the Seaham coastline in County Durham.

The operation was launched shortly after 6pm on Monday evening after Humber Coastguard received reports of a person in difficulty in the North Sea 300m offshore near to Seaham North Pier.

Coastguard officers from Seaham Coastguard Team were deployed to the scene to attempt to the meet the members of the public who reported the incident and to liaise with the land-based emergency service crews.

Sunderland's RNLI Atlantic 85 class lifeboat was scrambled along with three helicopters from RAF Boulmer, Northumbria Police, and North East Air Ambulance.

Two metre high waves in the area to the north of Seaham north pier made it difficult for rescuers to locate the reported person.

Paul Nicholson, Senior Helmsman at Sunderland RNLI said "We were initially directed towards the target which had been located by both the members of the public and our Coastguard colleagues.

"Unfortunately this proved to be a large four foot piece of wood which was floating in the sea vertically."

A full search was then carried out of the area by the helicopters and RNLI Lifeboat to confirm that the there was no further targets within the area.

Shortly after 7.30pm Humber Coastguard and the emergency teams terminated the search after no further sightings were reported.

Mr Nicholson added "After carrying out a full search of the area, we were all happy that no one remained in the sea in difficulty.

"It would appear that this turned out to be a false call with good intent, as the floating piece of wood could have looked like a person from the shoreline."

He added: "Anyone wishing to report a coastal emergency should dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard, as the minutes taken to transfer information between the emergency services can count when someone needs help at sea."