The crew of Girvan RNLI's lifeboat raced to the water near Culzean Castle to reports of a kayak floating in the water with nobody aboard.

On Friday, July 26 at 11:56pm, the volunteer crew's pagers rang out with the signal for immediate launch.

An immediate launch request is one that tells volunteers that someone could be in imminent danger.

The information received was that the caller believed they had seen a kayak floating with no person aboard near Culzean Castle and lost sight of it.

The crew headed along the jetty and the all-weather Shannon class Lifeboat 'Elizabeth and Gertrude Allan' was soon leaving the harbour and making best speed north.

Once on scene, the crew carried out a search using high powered spotlights and illuminating parachute flares along with night vision equipment.

Coastguard rescue teams from Girvan, Ayr and Ballantrae searched the shoreline and spoke to the caller.

After a detailed search of the coastline, information was received that the kayak and its owner had been located ashore.

With the call being deemed a false alarm with good intent. Girvan lifeboat returned to station and was made ready for the next service call.

John Gourlay, Girvan Lifeboat Operations Manager, said: "Although this was a false alarm with good intent, the informant did the correct thing.

"They saw something they didn't think was right, believing someone could be in trouble and dialled 999 right away.

"Even if they weren't quite sure, we would rather the wheels are put in motion and the emergency services start making their way as soon as possible as minutes and seconds can make a huge difference if you are in trouble at sea".

If you see or believe someone to be in trouble at sea or along out coastline, don't hesitate to dial 999 straight away and ask for the Coastguard.