The lifeboat crew in Barrow were called out on Friday evening after two people were thought to be facing 'difficulty'.

The request for assistance came from HM Coastguard at 8.06pm on July 19, prompting the team into action.

The information provided at the time was that members of the public on the shore at the south end of Walney Island had observed a small dinghy with two people on board, who appeared to be in some sort of trouble.

A spokesman from the Barrow Lifeboat Station said: "The crew was paged with an initial request to launch the inshore lifeboat.

"However, as the exact location of the dinghy was uncertain and given the distance from the lifeboat station, it was decided to launch the all-weather lifeboat, Grace Dixon."

As this required additional crew, a further call out was made again at 8.33pm.

"The lifeboat was launched at 8.45pm under the command of the Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, along with a crew of five," said the spokesman.

"The sea conditions were calm, but the grey colour of the dinghy made it harder to spot.

"It was located near to Sea Two buoy in the outer Walney Channel and once alongside the dinghy, it was established that the two people on board were fishing and not in any difficulty or danger."

As a result, the lifeboat was stood down as were the team from Furness Coastguard who had also been called out.

Despite the lack of any real emergency, the incident was recorded as a false alarm with good intent.

It was therefore used as a case study to showcase how public tip-offs are still welcome, with it being better to be safe than sorry when people's lives could be at risk.

The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 9.30pm where it was washed down and made ready for the next launch.