A SIZEABLE rescue operation swung into action last night after a man, thought to be a foreign tourist, became stuck on the chain walk on the shoreline at Elie.

The alarm was raised around 9pm when the man used his mobile phone to call fire and rescue, and Forth coastguard quickly began co-ordinating the operation.

The coastguard teams from Leven, St Andrews and Kinghorn, co-ordinated by the sector manager at Granton, were sent out, with 16 personnel involved in the rescue.

Flares had to be used to light up the area in a bid to locate the man and, once he was found, one of the team members was lowered with a special harness before the pair were winched to safety.

Police and fire and rescue units, from St Monans, Lochgelly, and Anstruther, including an emergency tender, were also sent to the scene.

The man was rescued just after 11pm.