COASTGUARDS in Dawlish were called out yesterday to reports of a wind surfer in distress.

The emergency call had been made by a member of the public who was worried for the wind surfer’s welfare.

The Dawllish team went to the scene yesterday just before midday and managed two get the wind surfer’s attention.

The windsurfer came back to shore where coastguards were able to establish that there was nothing wrong.

A spokesman for Dawlish coastguards said: ‘A member of public had done exactly the right thing and called the coastguard as they were worried for the wind surfers welfare.

‘The is what we call a false alarm with good intent and we encourage members of public to call these types of incidents in.’

A few hours later, the Dawlish team was alerted to a person in the water at Teignmouth.

When they arrived at the scene, the person had been helped ashore by members of the public and was safe with RNLI lifeguards.