Rescue search called off...after man found in pub

The RNLI hovercraft was launched in the early hours of Friday after reports that a man was missing on the beach in the West End, Morecambe.

But after a 35-minute hunt, police found the man a mile away in the Coast bar on Queen Street and the search was called off.

Kevin Jackson, Morecambe RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, said: “This was a false alarm with good intent and the caller was right to report it. The missing person is safe and well and, at the end of the day, that is all that matters.”

The call-out to the lifeboat crew came at 2.25am from Holyhead Coastguard who were also involved in the search. The Morecambe lifeboat was also on standby.