Youths spark false alarm rescue

Noise caused by a group of youngsters on a North East beach sparked a major search and rescue operation.

Two RNLI lifeboats from Redcar station, along with a police helicopter, were launched in the town on Saturday night after reports of a girl screaming.

Lifeboat crews searched the sea while the helicopter used an infrared camera to examine the shoreline.

The operation was called off when coastguard officers confirmed a group of teenagers had caused the screams.

Dave Cocks, from Redcar RNLI station, said: "The area was thoroughly searched in a very short space of time and nothing untoward was found.

"After the youths were interviewed by the coastguard officers it was fairly obvious that they had been the source of the screams.

"We're happy that the person who made the initial report did exactly the right thing. We'd rather find out it was a false alarm with good intent than have to deal with someone who had been in serious trouble."