RNLI call 'false alarm with good intent' after swimmer found inland during search
RNLI teams conducted a three hour search for a swimmer off the South Tyneside coast this week.
Members of the RNLI Tynemouth team were called to check on the welfare of a man who was swimming off the borough’s coast close to Marsden.
After a three hour search, the man was found inland.
The incident, which happened just after 12 noon on Thursday, May 7, has been marked by the organisation as a “false alarm with good intent.”
A full statement from the RNLI Tynemouth team says: “At 12:13, both Tynemouth All weather lifeboat and Inshore lifeboat were tasked to Marsden, South Shields to reports of an overdue swimmer.
“Both boats conducted search patterns along the coastline, with our ILB sticking as close to shore as possible and our ALB stepped off looking further out.
“We were joined by the Coastguard rescue helicopter from Carlisle to support the search while land based teams combed the coastline.
“After 3 hours searching all rescue teams were stood down, as the person had been located inland safe and well. False alarm with good intent.”
This was the 20th call out for the team in 2026. The search also marked the first callout for the station’s launch authority Dave Trevena and crew member Adrian Cantle-Jones.
May has already marked three callouts for the team. The month started with two calls over the bank holiday weekend. The first of these was a call reporting a body in the water off South Shields, which the team later confirmed were balloons. Another saw flares launched to help find a swimmer near Souter Lighthouse.