Scots lifeboat bosses have hit out after fly-tipped fridges and freezers sparked a rescue call out.
Aberdeen lifeboat was scrambled to reports of wreckage near the small harbour at Cove, around five miles south of the city.
Assisted by the coastguard, the crew arrived to only find the dumped white goods floating in the water.
A statement from Aberdeen Lifeboat said their ship 'Bon Accord' launched at 8.20pm on Tuesday with a crew of six and arrived at 8.45pm.
It added: "Assisted by HM Coastguard onshore and after deploying the Y-boat daughter craft to assist in the recovery, the lifeboat had two, presumably ‘fly-tipped’, fridge/freezers secured on deck for return to Aberdeen.
"‘Bon Accord’ was back on her berth, refuelled and ready for next service, by 10pm."
Aberdeen Lifeboat coxswain Davie Orr said: “Whoever dumped these fridges showed a casual disregard for the environment, sea safety and also caused a significant waste of search and rescue funds and resources.
“Fridges float, and can drift a long way. These two items could easily have holed a small vessel and caused a real emergency at sea.
“Our crew also had to break from social-distancing rules to attend the call, with the associated risks."
He added: "The fridges were bulky and awkward to bring on deck but needed to be recovered to avoid another incident.
"We will always be ready to respond to any report of concern for safety at sea, but we hope the lesson of tonight’s false alarm will strike home.”
A coastguard spokesman added: "Whilst Aberdeen team were busy with the first incident, Officers from Stonehaven were tasked last night to reports of wreckage sighted at Cove Bay.
"Once on scene, contact was made with the first informant who directed officers to the wreckage which was half a kilometer south of Cove Harbour.
"The items were found to be discarded fridge freezers and were recovered back onboard the All Weather Lifeboat to prevent further calls from the public.
"Further searches of the immediate area showed no further signs of wreckage.
"This was deemed a False Alarm With Good Intent (FAWGI) and was entirely the right thing to do.
"Wreckage spotted offshore could easily be from a vessel which has gotten into difficulty.
|Investigating sightings such as these remains a priority as they could involve person which have been onboard a vessel that has sunk.
"Discarding items such as those recovered into the marine environment, is not only a pollutant but can cause a significant hazard to other water users."
