Crews from Burnham-On-Sea Coastguard and BARB were called to Stert Island on Tuesday afternoon (September 3rd) amid concern that several large gas cylinders had washed up.
A walker on Burnham seafront had seen the objects through a telescope and raised the alarm, fearing that they could damage boats or jet skis in a collision if washed out into the estuary on the next tide.
The Spirit of Lelaina hovercraft was flown to the island by BARB’s volunteer crew, along with two Coastguards, to investigate.
A spokesman said: “The objects were found to be large empty plastic barrels with netting around them, so this was a false alarm with good intent, but the caller did the right thing in informing the Coastguard. We always prefer to investigate sightings like this rather than be called out to a later incident where someone has been hurt that could have been avoided.”
