Search for fisherman called off

The alarm was raised by the skipper of the Sanlormarho

A search for a fisherman who fell overboard in high winds off the coast of Northumberland has been called off.

A 27-year-old Phillipino man lost his balance and fell into the North Sea from the Sanlormarho, about two miles off the Blyth coast at about 1650 GMT.

Rescuers scoured the area where the man fell into the water after a wire on the Eyemouth-based boat snapped.

The search was called off at 2140 GMT when rescuers said there was no hope he was still alive.

They said the fisherman would only have survived until about 2000 GMT in the water, which was between six and eight degrees.

A Humber coastguard spokesman said: "Because the Mayday came quickly from the fishing vessel we had quite a specific area and it was a well saturated search.

"When we called off the search we were confident that if there was anything to find we would have found it.

"We are confident that the crewman would no longer be alive."

The rescue operation involved a helicopter, five lifeboat teams and fishing vessels.

There were four other crew on the 19-metre Sanlormarho, from Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders.