Lifeboat hoaxers sunk by accents
TWO day-trippers saved from a drifting rowing boat repaid the lifeboat crew with a hoax 999 call 48 hours later.
The men, from Tyneside, were rescued in the dangerous Menai Straits off Anglesey at 3am on Monday when they lost their oars and were drifting out to sea.
But following their rescue they triggered a second search in the early hours of Wednesday when they called the coastguard to say they were drifting in a small fishing boat.
The hoaxers were actually on the seafront at Beaumaris, Anglesey, where they sat on a bench laughing as the town’s RNLI lifeboat again searched the waters of the Strait.
But their prank backfired when the rescuers recognised their strong Geordie accents from the Monday incident.
Police were called in and one of the men was hit with an £80 fixed penalty “for the misuse of an electronic device”.