Volunteer lifeboat crew from North Berwick RNLI were called out yesterday (Thursday) after it was feared there was a person in danger off North Berwick.

Crew members were called out at 4.04pm yesterday after golfers spotted what they believed to be an over turned yellow kayak off North Berwick.

The alarm was raised just after high water, at 5.8m had covered most of the beaches in the area.

Golfers on North Berwick Golf Club’s 14th hole had called the Coastguard with their concerns of someone in difficulty.

However, crew members were relieved to discover that what had been spotted was driftwood which had washed into the water due to the high tide.

Evelyn M, North Berwick’s D Class inshore lifeboat, was quickly on scene and carried out a search of the area.

North Berwick Coastguard Rescue Team spoke to the golfers and directed the crew to a large piece of driftwood which looked yellow in the evening light.

As the crew were recovering the object to place it above the high tide line, the Coastguard tasked them to a potential person in the water off Yellowcraigs beach.

The crew were quick to react as they raced to the scene and another search was carried out with a number of items of driftwood identified and dragged above the high tide line once the crew were satisfied there was no-one in danger.

Lifeboat helm Niall Grant said: “As we were approaching the first object it looked to us to be someone in the water clinging on to a creel end.

“Thankfully no-one was in difficulty but we’d like to thank members of the public for their vigilance in reporting what they believed to be a genuine incident. In any coastal emergency, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”