A coastguard rescue helicopter was dispatched to Ardrossan South Beach last night following concerns of a person in the water.
The Ardrossan Coastguard Rescue Team interrupted their official training to deal with a number of incidents including a report of concern for a possible person in the water near on the North Ayrshire coast.
Meanwhile, part of the team was dispatched to help a vessel that had run into mechanical issues at Portencross; which required the assistance of the Largs lifeboat.
The remaining team members carried out a search to the Ardrossan South Beach area, which came up short.
With the Largs lifeboat occupied, the Arran RNLI was deployed to assist in Ardrossan and the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter Rescue was also scrambled to the scene.
The team sent to help with the Portencross vessel was dispatched back to the Ardrossan area.
The multi-agency search which focussed on Ardrossan South Beach and the coastal area to the rear of Asda found nothing but members of the public nearby stood firm they had seen a paddleboarder in the area earlier in the evening.
Thankfully, a short time later, the paddleboarder attended at the scene having been aware of the ongoing search to advise they had been in the area a short time ago.
A spokesperson for Ardrossan Coastguard Rescue Team said on their Facebook page: "On consultation with the first informant, the paddleboarder and other members of the public, the team on scene were satisfied it was the paddleboarder who had originally been seen and no other persons were at risk or in any difficultly. All search and rescue resources were thereafter stood down to return to their respective stations.
"Our thanks to the paddleboarder for attending to make the team aware they had been at sea a short time earlier and to the first informant and the other members of the public who were able to provide information to bring the search to an end with the call deemed as a false alarm with good intent.
"We always advise the public if they think someone is at risk or in difficulty at sea or along the coast to immediately dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Seconds count when it comes to emergencies so if you are in any doubt whatsoever, make the call. We would much rather be called out to something which turns out to be a false alarm as opposed to not being called out or called out late to something which requires our attendance."
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