TEIGNMOUTH’S volunteer lifeboat crew was scrambled reports of distress signals coming from a radio beacon.

The team was alerted by Solent coastguard just after 1pm on Tuesday December 21 to answer the distress signal received somewhere in the area of the River Teign.

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons are dedicated to transmitting distress signals which can be used to locate a casualty. They are often fitted to vessels as safety devices and can be activated automatically.

Should a ship begin to sink, the EPIRB is released allowing it to float to the surface where it will begin to transmit a distress signal to help locate any casualties.

Teignmouth RNLI was went to the area to carry out a search of the River Teign to look for a potential vessel in distress or any casualties who may have entered the water.

With low water at 1.40pm, both the Atlantic 85 class and the Arancia lifeboats were launched, with a total of six crew onboard between the two lifeboats. The Arancia has a greater range in low water and can travel further up the river than the larger Atlantic 85.

After an extensive search along the river and shoreline in the vicinity of the last known location of the signal, it was expected that the EPIRB was activated onshore in error.

Solent Coastguard stood down Teignmouth RNLI and were back at base by 2.25pm.