Man brought to safety from riverside after training session leads to call out

South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade (SSVLB) members were taking part in a training session at Hebburn's Riverside Park when they helped deal with two incidents.

They were first contacted by the Humber Coastguard with a request to investigate a report of lights at Marsden.

The team's vehicle and two team members went to the area to investigate and found the alert was caused by fishermen.

The Coastguard said the men were happy to remain on Camel Island until the tide went out again.

While the rest of the SSVLB team carried on with the exercise in Hebburn, they were approached by concerned members of the public.

A spokesman for the team said: "They said there was a man acting strangely on the wrong side of the barriers further up the road.

"Team members approached the person and attempted to speak to him, he initially ignored them but the team member continued to attempt to engage him in conversation.

"Humber were informed of the situation and contacted the police, Tynemouth Inshore Lifeboat and Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade to assist.

"Two team members donned their water rescue equipment while Tynemouth VLB did the same, after some time family members arrived and spoke to the individual who agreed to go with them.

"Humber stood the teams down when the individual was safely in the care of his family."

The Coastguard added police were also involved in ensuring the man was given care in the aftermath of the incident and urged anyone reporting a coastal emergency or incident on the river to dial 999 and ask for the service.

The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email [email protected].