Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards say a search for an ‘injured horse rider’ on Sunday (November 10th) may have been a hoax call after no-one was found.
Burnham Coastguards were called out shortly before 3.30pm following a report of a fallen horse rider needing help.
A Burnham Coastguard spokesman says: “Our assistance was requested by the ambulance service, who had received reports of a horse rider who had fallen near the yacht club in Burnham.”
“Their first responder was on scene and looking for the rider who was said to be suffering extensive injuries.”
“We arrived at the yacht club and liaised with the ambulance crews and, with fading light and the temperatures dropping, it was imperative to find them quickly.”
“Search teams were sent along the beach, the yacht club along the towpath, the coastal path on the opposite side of the river bank and around Apex Park.”
“All these areas were quickly covered and while this was happening the Officer In Charge was working closely with the Coastguard Operations Centre to piece together the info we had received.”
“Part of that was using the local knowledge to ascertain if the person who had reported it had given the wrong location.”
“The team was divided into two parts, the first was continuing to cover the initial search area while the vehicle and more team members were sent along to Brean to check if the rider was actually at the Land Yacht Club just off of Brean Beach.”
“Again nothing was found and it was agreed that this was a false report. We are always hesitant to use the hoax call tag as it may have been a misreporting of an actual incident.”
“However, if it was then the person involved if found could be prosecuted, fined several thousand pounds and face six months in prison.”
“Please think carefully before you think about calling in false information. If on the other hand, you have a genuine emergency along the coast, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguards.”
