Party balloons out at sea spark fears over inflatable for emergency teams

Rescue teams were alerted to a possible inflatable drifting out at sea – to find the object was a bunch of party balloons.

By Fiona Thompson

Published 22nd Jul 2021, 22:49 BST

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Hartlepool Coastguard Rescue Team and Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team were leaving an incident at Crimdon Dene Beach, where a grandad and his two grandsons had got into difficulty in the sea earlier today, Thursday, July 22, when they were tasked to Blackhall Picnic Site over fears an inflatable was 200 metres off shore.

A spokesperson for the Hartlepool team said: “Coastguard officers located the object but were unable to identify the object so we requested assistance from Hartlepool RNLI to recover the object.

"Whilst waiting for the inshore lifeboat, the object moved close enough to shore for us to identify the object as a bunch of party balloons.”

Hartlepool Coastguard Rescue Team at the scene of the incident.

Hartlepool Coastguard Rescue Team at the scene of the incident.

While there, the teams were made aware of unattended clothing found towards the north of Blackhall Rocks, with a search carried out and signs of distress or concern found.

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