At 2.57pm, Folkestone Rescue were alerted to an unidentified object in the water off Sunny Sands by NCI Folkestone.
As our main lifeboat was dealing with a broken-down jet ski being towed by a speedboat outside the harbour entrance, Rescue 1 was tasked to search for the object, described as a possible fender from a fishing vessel. On arrival, Rescue 1 was unable to locate the object, as it had drifted away due to the strong offshore winds.
Around 30 minutes later, the object was spotted again off the end of Folkestone Harbour Arm, and Rescue 4 was tasked to investigate. On approach, the object was spotted floating in the distance and to the concern of the crew appeared to resemble a red life buoy.
However, on closer inspection the object was revealed to be a red and black inflatable ring, which had presumably been lost by visitors to Sunny Sands. The ring was retrieved and deflated by crew, and Rescue 4 returned to its station off Mermaid Beach in time for the Red Arrow display at 4pm.
I hope that this headline was a mistake – and not a prophecy! We have not got anyway near 30th July yet!!
Apologies for the typo, quickly corrected!