Emergency services were scrambled to an area off the coast of the Isle of Man over the weekend.

The callout happened after an emergency signal alerted HM Coastguard to a possible vessel in distress.

Peel’s RNLI volunteers rushed to the scene early on Saturday after the alarm was raised by the coastguard.

Peel’s Shannon class lifeboat, Frank and Brenda Winter, was launched just before 9am to investigate the signal reportedly coming from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio (EPIRB), which was located in an area around 13 miles north-west from Peel.

Once in the area, the lifeboat undertook an ‘expanding box’ search pattern in a bid to track down the source of the signal.

A coastguard helicopter from Prestwick, which had joined the search, spotted something in the water and marked the spot with a smoke device. 

The lifeboat crew investigated and found only a large, battered rubble bag which they pulled from the water.  

Jon Corlett, volunteer coxswain with Peel’s lifeboat, said: ‘Our crew members regularly train with other agencies to ensure we can work together safely and effectively in an emergency. 

‘Although this seemed to be a false alarm, we were satisfied that our operations with HM Coastguard helicopter crew went as smoothly as possible.’  

After returning to Peel, the crew washed down the vessel and returned to the boathouse ready for service by 1pm. 

The incident was one of three Peel’s RNLI crew dealt with in recent days and rounded-off a ‘busy week’ for volunteers.

On Sunday, April 21, the crew was called-out to help rescue a broken down motorboat.

The crew also assisted in the search for a missing person later that week before taking part in on-the-water training on Sunday (April 28).