An army investigation launched after the coastguard was called out to a routine training exercise following concerned calls from the public has ruled out any wrongdoing.
It came after the coastguard was unaware that the 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal of Scotland Army Reserve regiment was conducting an exercise using flares, a mile west of Kingston on Sunday.
Coastguards in Aberdeen began to receive calls from locals at 9am after flares were spotted amid fears there may have been a boat in trouble.
The incident sparked an internal Army investigation to establish whether the exercise had involved red flares — the colour to signal distress — or standard white flares.
Police were aware of the exercise, but the coastguard has not been told of the activity given it was not water-based.
An army investigation found that no malpractice had taken place.
An Army spokeswoman said: “Exercise Highland Fury was a training exercise in Lossie Forrest between October 24 and 26.
“The unit received authority to use flares and Police Scotland were informed.
“It’s not standard practice to contact the coastguard as the unit was not carrying out any water-based activity.
“We do use this area often, including the use of flares without incident.
“I can confirm that no red flares were used and, therefore, the unit was in their rights to use the flares during the exercise.”
It is understood that police will now inform the coastguard of any future exercises.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said: “I’ve spoken to the manager at Aberdeen Coastguard who tells me we don’t necessarily have to be informed of exercises involving flares above the high-water mark.”
“We don’t have to be told about these sorts of exercises above the high-water mark, but it is sometimes useful to have information like that to hand.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed the police had been informed about the exercise, adding yesterday: “First responders will continue to share information at all times.”