A LIFEBOAT crew who had been called out to help a stranded boat suddenly had to divert following reports of a person being cut off by the tide.

Angle RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat launched at around 4.27pm on Friday following a call from a 28-foot vessel which was reporting having propeller issues in the area around Longoar Bay and Butts Bay.

However, as the lifeboat made its way towards the boat, the crew were diverted to a second incident.

The coastguard had received a 999 call reporting a person had been cut off by the tide and was possibly despondent near the old mining depot and the entrance to Castle Pill.

A local fishing vessel had made the call and was attempting to communicate with the person. The lifeboat soon arrived at the scene and, after speaking with the fisherman, a search got underway.

Angle’s Y boat was deployed to head into Castle Pill to check the person had rejoined the path back to the main road.

Dale Coastguard Rescue team and the police were also called in to help with the search.

Soon after, the fisherman caught sight of the man making his way up the road towards Black Bridge. When it was confirmed that this was the man reported as being in difficulty, the search was stood down.

After recovering the Y boat, Angle’s all-weather lifeboat headed out towards Longoar Bay to assisted the vessel in trouble.

An assessment upon arrival found the vessel’s anchor was potentially dragging, so a tow was set up and the anchor was recovered.

The lifeboat then towed the vessel back to Milford Marina.

When the vessel was moored safely in the marina, the lifeboat crew was stood down. They returned to the station and readied the boat for further service.