POLICE are probing what could be yet another hoax call involving Buckie’s RNLI lifeboat. The William Blannin was launched at 7.42am on Monday, July 29 after HM Coastguard received a report of a vessel in distress near Lossiemouth. However, as in previous such cases, nothing was found by the volunteer crew on reaching the scene. Sergeant Mark Bayliss said: “We are liaising with the Coastguard and RNLI following a call made this morning reporting a vessel in difficulty. “Any reports of distress to the emergency services will be taken seriously and it is disappointing that individuals abuse this response which takes up valuable resources. “Our enquiries are at an early stage and anyone who may have information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident 721 of July 29 or if you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.” The last few weeks have seen a series of hoax calls made to the Coastguard purporting to be from or reporting vessels in trouble off the coast between Lossiemouth and Cullen. There were plenty of genuine calls to keep the Buckie life-savers busy in the two days prior to the suspected hoax, as a spokesman for Buckie RNLI revealed.
Full story in Banffshire Advertiser 6th August 2019