Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards were called out late on Friday (June 18th) to conduct a torch-lit search of the town’s beach amid concerns that a sighting of a red light in the sky may have been a distress flare.
A team of five Burnham Coastguards searched a large area of the beach and estuary around the low lighthouse at 11.10pm after two walkers raised the alarm.
Coastguards also used two search flares to illuminate the whole area, as pictured below, but found no trace of anything untoward.
Burnham Coastguard Officer Ian Jefferies told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Two members of the public who were walking their dog near the low lighthouse reported seeing the lights and did the right thing in contacting Coastguards.”
“Despite a thorough search, nothing was found. We think that lights on the other side of the channel may have been mistaken for the flares. This was a well-intended call-out that turned out to be a false alarm.”
Our photo shows Burnham Coastguards using a search flare to illuminate the beach around the town’s low lighthouse on Friday night
