POLICE have made an arrest after distress flares were set off tonight in the latest of several incidents that have had the coastguard diverting vital resources to false alarms.

Members of the Hartlepool and Seaham coastguard teams have been called to deal with repeated false alarms in the Horden and Blackhall areas of east Durham.

And tonight police confirmed they had arrested a male in Horden, near Peterlee.

A coastguard member, who did not wish to be named, described how the drama unfolded after he was alerted to the latest incident at around 5.45pm.

He said: “Because I live local I head down to the beach when my pager goes off, to make sure there are no vessels in distress.

“Tonight I got down and was speaking to fishermen when another flare went off inland.

“Our team from Hartlepool were already on their way when one of the members got a message to say the flares had gone up in the back lane of Sixth Street in Horden.

“We had the Seaham team coming as well and we flooded the area and found the back lane littered with used flares – the cartridges.

“They were in wheelie bins and back yards. While waiting for police we came across three unused flares in the coalhouse of an empty house.”

A police spokesman said: “We have had a number of calls and liaise with the coastguard regularly. A male has been arrested this afternoon and inquiries are ongoing.”

Coastguard chiefs have warned against the use of red flares saying essential resources had to be diverted following several incidents.

In one, volunteers conducted a shoreline search of the area between Blackhall picnic site and Easington.

As members were on the beach at Blackhall they spotted two more flares go off inland over the Horden area. With confirmation that no vessels were in distress, Durham police continued the search inland.

Senior coastguard operations officer Adam Turner said: “Over the last seven days there have been around six incidents, with reports of red flares being fired in the Horden area.

“Some have been reported by members of the public and some from shipping. Fortunately all of them have been confirmed to be overland.”

He added: “When a red flare goes off we have to investigate because they are distress signal and until we or the coastguard can confirm that they are not fired overland we have to treat it as real. Luckily we haven’t had to deal with other emergencies, but it does tie up a fair amount of resources.”

It is an offence to set off red distress flares when you are not in danger. Anyone with information should contact Durham Police on 101.