A YOUNG woman who sparked a major rescue operation following fears that she had been seen walking into the sea has made contact with police.

The investigation was launched after Cleveland Police received a 999 call from a woman on her way to work, who said she had seen the girl walking in and out of the sea early yesterday morning.

The young woman had been witnessed walking away from the beach in soaking wet clothes before then turning round and returning into the water – but was not seen to emerge.

The call to the emergency services – at about 7.15am yesterday – triggered the launch of three lifeboats, the Cleveland Police and RAF helicopters and coastguard teams.

The woman, who is believed to be aged about 18, called police after seeing news stories about the incident.

A force spokesman last night said that a woman from the Thornaby area had contacted officers.

He said: “Having seen stories in the media, a young lady contacted police, as she believed it may have been herself police had been looking for.

“She was seen by officers, and it was confirmed that she had been the young lady in question. There was no concern for her welfare.”

There was confusion when it was discovered that the last sighting of the girl was of her walking towards a caravan park. By lunchtime the, search had been called off.

A coastguard spokesman said the incident was being treated as a false alarm.

Dave Cocks, Redcar RNLI spokesman, said: “The decision to call off the search was taken by the coastguard.

“They use a predictive model to determine wind speeds, tides and the likely survival time for somebody who is in the water.

“They decided to stand down the RAF helicopter at noon and the search was then called off.”

A police spokesman said: “Police received a call regarding a white woman with long, dark hair who was wearing a grey vest top and light blue jeans.

“She was in the Majuba car park and beach area of Redcar and for this time of the morning she appeared to be out of place.

“The woman was reported to be walking around the beach and into the shallows of the surf.

“Police attended and with other emergency services carried out a search of the area.

No person fitting the description was found.”

The police and coastguard have thanked members of the public for their help