Spiderman balloon sparks major alert off coast of Sunderland

Sunderland and Seaham Coastguard, along with both Sunderland Lifeboats and the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter, were called out this afternoon to reports of a parachutist in the water at Ryhope Dene.

A Coastguard spokesman said: "On arrival, officers spoke to the first informant who pointed out the object some distance out to sea.

"Using binoculars we identified the object as a Spiderman balloon. The balloon was recovered by the lifeboat to prevent any further call-outs."The incident was a false alarm with good intent and the person did the right thing to call us to confirm no one was in danger."