THE Redcar RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched on Christmas Eve to recover from the sea kite-surfing equipment which had become detached from the kite-surfer.

Several calls were made to UK Coastguard reporting that a kite could be seen blowing across the surface of the sea off Redcar, but there was no sight of the surfer himself.

An RNLI spokesman said: "As Redcar Coastguard Rescue Team was assembling to investigate, the male, age 25 from Middlesbrough, arrived at the lifeboat station to tell the crews that he was safe and well.

"The town's inshore lifeboat was launched to bring back the lost equipment, which by this time was snagged on fishermen's keep-pots approximately 300 metres north of the lifeboat station."