Beachgoers in Tayside and Fife have been warned to take care after lifeboats from Broughty Ferry and Kinghorn received six callouts in one day.
The Fife crew was called out at 3.15am on Wednesday after concerns for a person near Portobello.
The person was recovered safely and taken to hospital.
Five hours later the crew was alerted about an unknown object floating in the water near Kirkcaldy – which turned out to be a discarded Christmas tree.
‘Extensive search’ after inflatable toys found
The third call came when residents spotted what appeared to be an inflatable object being blown out to sea.
The Kinghorn crew recovered five deflated toys that had been pulled out by the tide.
A search was launched alongside the coastguard but nobody was found in the water.
Helmsman Neil Chalmers said: “It was a fairly extensive search but we soon found that the people involved had gone to shore.
“These inflatable toys are completely unsuitable for the sea, I wouldn’t recommend them on open water.
“If you do have one of these inflatables that gets blown away, please do give us a call and just let us know.
“You’ll never get in trouble for contacting us.”
It was also a busy day for Broughty Ferry’s RNLI crew, which was called out to three incidents in the course of 24 hours.
The first shout came after a boat became unmoored on the River Tay near Perth at 9.36am on Wednesday.
The vessel had begun to drift down the river unaccompanied and the Ferry crew helped secure the vessel and tow it back to Perth.
Just before 6.30pm the crew was called out to another inflatable toy that was empty.
A spokesman for the station said: “We would like to remind members of the public using Broughty Ferry beach that it is currently manned by RNLI lifeguards and the flags on the beach also display an orange windsock, which indicates offshore or strong wind conditions.
“Never use inflatables when the windsock is flying and please do not discard these on the beach.”
The final call of the day came from Invergowrie bay after reports that windsurfers were struggling in the water.
‘They were all OK’
The spokesman added: “The inshore lifeboat made way at best speed towards Invergowrie as the all-weather lifeboat headed along the south shore towards the same area.
“As the ALB was making way, they spotted two white sails towards the south shore in the area of Balmerino and headed towards them.
“It was then confirmed by the first informant that these were indeed the sails that they had spotted and reported.
“Once alongside the ALB confirmed these were two small sailing boats and that they were all OK and not in need of any assistance.”
Paddleboarders rescued from River Tay by Broughty Ferry lifeboat