Coastguard and lifeboat crews scrambled to an emergency beacon alert in the early morning.

The alert came through the radio via an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), which is a small electronic device that can help search and rescue authorities find people in distress.

HM Coastguard was investigating this beacon alert just off the coast of Portland yesterday (Monday, March 11), shortly before 8.30am.

The team later requested a launch from Weymouth Lifeboat to help with the search, but approximately five minutes later they were stood down as the coastguard had managed to locate the fishing vessel which sent the emergency alert.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm as the EPIRB device had been ‘falsely activated.’

A spokesperson for Weymouth Lifeboat said: “ We received a  launch request from the coastguard at 8.25am.

“It turned out to be a falsely activated EPIRB device on a fishing vessel 17nm SSW of Portland, but once discovered and the coastguard had established contact with the fishing vessel the lifeboat was stood down no further action.”