A MAJOR search took place after four girls were reported missing after playing on the beach.

Lifeboat crews with Staithes and Runswick RNLI began scouring the North Yorkshire coastline on Monday evening after the girls, two aged 12 and two aged five, were reported missing from Staithes beach, between Whitby and Redcar.

The girls had been playing on the beach early Monday afternoon.

When they failed to return home, it was thought they had gone walking along the tidal shoreline below the cliffs and their parents raised the alarm.

Staithes and Runswick RNLI launched a boat at 6.15pm and began searching the coastline north of Staithes, while HM Coastguard teams and police joined the search.

It was called off after news came in that the girls had safely reached Port Mulgrave, which lay one and a half miles east of Staithes.

It is believed the four girls reached Port Mulgrave by walking along the shoreline.