Better safe than sorry is the message from Teignmouth Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) after being called out to a false alarm on Sunday (February 9).

Teignmouth’s lifeboat, Claude and Kath, was launched at 4:20pm at the request of HM Solent Coastguard, following reports of a person in difficulty in the water.

‘On this occasion it turned out to be a false alarm with good intent,’ said a Teignmouth RNLI spokesperson.

‘We would commend the person who raised the alarm as that is always the right thing to do, we would always rather investigate these concerns than assume all is well when it may not be. If you see someone in trouble by the coast dial 999 and ask for the coastguard,’ the spokesperson added.