A MAN who sparked a five-hour search on moorland after abandoning a rucksack, has turned up safe and well at home.
North Yorkshire Police and Cleveland Search and Rescue Team scoured the Gribdale area of the North York Moors, above Great Ayton, on Monday afternoon, after a rucksack full of camping gear was found near the Captain Cook monument.
Police visited a house in Thornaby, Teesside, after finding an address in the bag. While officers were there, the rucksack's owner turned up unaware that anyone was looking for him.
Rescue volunteer Pete Mounsey said: "It was odd. The man had just left the bag up there by accident and not bothered to go back for it. We couldn't believe it.
"It's a craggy area, so we were concerned someone had gone over the edge of a cliff. There were about 27 volunteers in all searching quite intensively all afternoon, plus a mountain rescue search dog."
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