A man drifting offshore in an inflatable dinghy was one of two incidents which led to shouts for Falmouth Lifeboat crews on Sunday.

The first call of the day came for the all weather lifeboat, returning from an exercise at 11.56am when it was sent to investigate a kayak adrift between Toll Point and Nare Point at the entrance to the Helford River, with a report of something clinging to it.

Upon arrival the crew found the Canadian style open kayak at the entrance to the river with a rigid inflatable already in attendance, and the lifeboat took over the recovery, lifting it onboard and carrying out a visual inspection of the immediate area.

An RNLI spokesperson said: "It appears that the kayak had broken free from a boat or mooring in the Helford and had drifted out of the river with the wind and tide. It had a small paddle board stowed in it which would have given the impression of something clinging to it when viewed from a distance."

LAter that day, the inshore lifeboat was launched following reports of a 10ft inflatable dinghy with one person on board broken down off Swanpool and being blown offshore.

Launched around 7pm, the boat rounded Pendennis Point and found the dinghy off Stack Point, where the occupant of the dinghy confirmed he had been having problems with his outboard engine but was not in any difficulty and was happy to continue with his trip using the oars.

A spokesperson said: "While the occupant of the inflatable was happy with his predicament this is a good example of the public correctly reporting what they believed to be a person in difficulty and was a false alarm with good intent."