North Berwick volunteer RNLI crew were launched yesterday (Wednesday) at 1.10am in response to a report of a vessel drifting towards Craigleith Island.

North Berwick Lifeboat Volunteer crew were all in bed when their pagers sounded calling them to attend at the lifeboat station immediately to launch Evelyn M on service.

A 999 call had been received by the coastguard reporting a vessel drifting towards Craigleith Island. The boat crew, tractor driver, shore crew and launching authority all attended and swiftly carried out their duties to enable a swift launch.

North Berwick Coastguard Rescue team were also in attendance, They spoke with the original informant and located another witness that had also seen the vessel drifting out of sight behind Craigleith Island.

Evelyn M carried out a patterned search for 90 minutes. The crew was stood down once it was established that the vessel had made its way safely back to shore.

The Helm, Hamish Barbour said “It’s really good that members of the public saw something they were unsure of and called the coastguard. Absolutely the right thing to do.”

At 4.05 am the service was concluded and all crew returned home to bed.