LIFEBOATS searched for what was believed to be a person in difficulty after a number of personal items were found on Swanage Beach.

The incident took place yesterday.

UK coastguards were alerted to a number of personal items found on the beach and asked Swanage Coastguard volunteers to carry out a search along the shoreline, northwards from the pier.

The inshore lifeboat (ILB) was requested to help with the search at 10:34am and was later launched.

The ILB searched close inshore round to Ballard Point while the coastguard worked along the beach, however, nothing was found.

A spokesman for Swanage Lifeboat said: “As the Shannon class Swanage lifeboat was exercising with Poole lifeboats in Studland at the time, it was easy for her to join the search informally, standing a little further out to sea and searching from north to south, still with nothing found.

“Further passes of the area by the coastguard and the ILB revealed nothing, and the UK coastguard were happy to cancel the search at around 11:15am, with the boats back ashore at 11:25am.”