Coastguard and police race to save north-east man…who was swimming in North Sea

A man almost sparked a coastguard rescue operation this morning after going for a dip in the freezing waters off the north-east coast.

Aberdeen Coastguard alerted its lifeboat crew in Fraserburgh after the swimmer was caught taking a plunge near Broadsea at about 9.55am.

Police alerted the coastguard team to the incident, but it soon emerged the man had just gone for a swim.

He was spotted in the water near Bayview Motors, on Broadsea Road.

An Aberdeen Coastguard spokesman said: “It was a false alarm. There was a person in the water in Fraserburgh but it turned out they were actually swimming.

“Fraserburgh lifeboat were tasked but we shut them down very shortly and it was done in minutes.

“The lifeboat didn’t go out, it was passed to us by the police and they phoned back in 10 minutes to say it was fine. I don’t think he was far out at all.”