Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hoax call to Kinghorn lifeboat station could have had serious consequences

Post Thumbnail

A hoax call to the coastguard could have had far more serious consequences during a busy Easter weekend for the Kinghorn RNLI lifeboat station, the organisation has warned.

The Fife crew was called out just before 4.30pm on Monday afternoon following a 999 call reporting two children had been cut off by the tide near Portobello on the Edinburgh side of the Forth.

Volunteers at Kinghorn had been conducting a training exercise at the time and began moving south, although they were stood down about 10 minutes later when it was established by the coastguard the call had been a hoax.

However, the vital minutes wasted could have proved costly as the crew was subsequently called to a report of an inflatable, with two people on board, drifting west of Granton, and then diverted back to Portobello following concern for a speedboat.

Helm Scott McIlravie explained: “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.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The Courier newsletter


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

The second call involved two sit down kayakers and turned out to be a false alarm with good intent, as the two people involved were found to be well-equipped and left to continue their paddle.

“It was good to see people who were well equipped for watersports with suitable clothing and buoyancy aids,” Mr McIlravie added.

“If you are taking part in watersports we would recommend that you visit the RNLI’s website where advice and guidance is available.”

While returning to Kinghorn after searching for the kayakers, the crew was sent to assist a speedboat near Portobello, although again they were stood down by the coastguard when the situation was brought under control.

The flurry of calls was part of a busy weekend for the Kinghorn RNLI lifeboat station, coming after the crew was called out on Saturday evening to aid a sailor in difficulty at Inchkeith harbour.