Kinghorn lifeboat crew hit by hoax call on busy Bank Holiday

They were alerted by reports of two children cut off by the tide at Portobello and launched around 4.30 pm, heading across the Forth.

The drama began after a 999 call to the UK coastguard.

You may also be interested in:

ExxonMobil apologise after unplanned flaring

Bank holiday crowds create traffic ’mayhem’ in Fife town

BiFab unions and bosses Holyrood talks

Ten minutes later they were stood down after it emerged it was a hoax.

Helm Scott McIlravie said, ‘We were very disappointed to be called out following a hoax call. Our volunteer crew had just completed a full day of training at the lifeboat station when we were called.

‘Calls like this waste resources and mean we are not able to respond to real emergencies.”

Soon after returning to Kinghorn, the crew was called out again following a report of an inflatable with two people on board drifting west of Granton.

On arrival, a search was carried out and two sit-on-top kayakers were found. T

They were well equipped and not in any difficulty so were left to continue their paddle.

While returning to Kinghorn, the lifeboat was diverted to Portobello following concern for a speedboat but was stood down by the coastguard soon after.

The station has had a busy holiday weekend, responding to four call-outs in total, with another on Saturday evening to assist a sailor in difficulty at Inchkeith harbour.

The crew was Scott McIlravie, Matthew Mulligan, Claire Duncan, Henry Wibberley and Scott Glen.