Welly might have been in trouble

The crew was tasked at 2.30pm after a lookout in the Coastwatch station on the sea front Redcar saw a pair of legs and feet in the surf to the east of the lifeboat station.

The lookout called UK Coastguard who in turn paged the lifeboat crew. The lifeboat was on scene within 4 minutes of launching and its crew began searching the surf for the reported person. Meanwhile one of the lifeboat crew on shore, Nathan Hobday, began scouring the beach in the search area and came across a pair of fisherman's waders, complete with built-in boots close to the surf line.

Nathan Hobday said: 'There was a lot of surf on the shoreline and I can understand how it could have looked like a person. The waders were filled with water and sand.

Nathan added: 'With all the bad weather we've had over the past week, they could have come from anywhere. They could have been washed off the South Gare, because that's a popular fishing spot in bad weather, or they might even have travelled down the River Tees.'

If anyone has any information on the owner of the waders, they can contact UK Coastguard on 01262 672317 or the Redcar lifeboat station using the email address [email protected].

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Redcar lifeboat station has been operating since 1802

Redcar currently operates a B-class lifeboat named Leicester Challenge III, paid for by the people of Leicester, and an IB1-class lifeboat named Eileen May Loach-Thomas, paid from the legacy of the late Nicolas Thomas of Shropshire

For more news, information and images go to www.redcarlifeboat.org.uk

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For more information please contact Dave Cocks, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager on 07894 558 483 the RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789; [email protected]

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