COASTGUARDS were alerted to reports from a concerned member of the public to an unidentified object in Weymouth Bay.

A spokesman for Wyke Coastuard said: "The team was paged at 12:31 on Saturday and asked to investigate sightings of an object in Weymouth Bay.

"The first informant had seen an unusual dark object from their house which overlooked the bay, rightly reporting it to the Coastguard to investigate further.

"One team member made their way to the first informant's address to ascertain the location of the object.

"The object appeared to be in a fixed position, although it was not possible to confirm the identity fully due to the sea conditions and distance involved.

"The MRU made its way to Oasis Cafe to gain further visual confirmation of the object, then relocating to the Jordan Hill area.

"The object appeared to be a buoy, the heavy swell making it more visible in the waves.

"Consulting charts the location was ascertained and confirmed as the location of the Weymouth weather buoy, which likely appeared darker due to the heavy buildup of seaweed.

"With nothing untoward the team then reported their findings to the NMOC and stood down."