AN RNLI lifeboat was scrambed yesterday- but the suspected body in the surf turned out to be a pair of fisherman's waders.

Volunteers were called out when a person was reported to be in difficulties in the sea off Redcar, but the crew instead found that the discarded wellies were the cause of the alarm.

The crew was tasked at 2.30pm after a lookout in the Coastwatch station on the sea front Redcar saw a pair of legs and feet in the surf to the east of the lifeboat station.

The lookout called UK Coastguard who in turn paged the lifeboat crew.

Volunteers were on scene within four minutes of launching, and crew began searching the surf for the reported person.

Meanwhile one of the lifeboat crew on shore, Nathan Hobday, began scouring the beach in the search area and came across the fisherman's waders, complete with built-in boots, close to the surf line.

He said: "There was a lot of surf on the shoreline and I can understand how it could have looked like a person. The waders were filled with water and sand.

"With all the bad weather we've had over the past week, they could have come from anywhere.

"They could have been washed off the South Gare, because that's a popular fishing spot in bad weather, or they might even have travelled down the River Tees.'

If anyone has any information on the owner of the waders, they can contact UK Coastguard on 01262 672317 or the Redcar lifeboat station using the email address redcar@rnli.org.uk.