The sighting of a distress flare in the vicinity of Whitecliff Bay prompted a call out for Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team and Bembridge RNLI late last night (Christmas Day).
At just before 22:00, it was reported to Solent Coastguard that a red flare had been sighted in the Bembridge area, between Foreland and Culver Down.
Coastguard Officers from Ventnor were tasked to conduct a search of the area, with Bembridge RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat launched to carry out a sweep from on the water.
Weather and tidal conditions were in the search team’s favour and therefore it didn’t take long for the volunteer lifeboat crew to conduct a thorough shoreline search and then one further offshore.
Ventnor CRT fired 2 illuminating flares to light up the area but with nothing seen either by the crew of the ‘Norman Harvey’ lifeboat nor the Coastguard Rescue team, the search was called off.
