Coastguards have blasted “time-wasting” youths for firing hoax distress calls and prompting a search.
Two red “parachute” flares were discharged near a Caernarfon caravan park at 9.30pm last night, sending red smoke over the Menai Strait.
Coastguards had to find out why they were fired in case there was an emergency at sea, but everyone was stood down after it emerged it was a false alarm.
A senior maritime operations spokesman, based at HM Coastguard at Holyhead, said cars were parked near Coed Helen caravan park and the flares were set off from there.
Flares can travel 300 metres into the air.
He said: “They are meant to alert people to someone in distress at sea. With the wind, they drifted over the Menai Strait and appeared to come from the Strait to people from the Caernarfon and Anglesey sides.
“They triggered quite a few 999 calls.”
HM Coastguard sent out volunteer coastguard teams from Bangor and Llandwrog.
“Later, the police reported that youths had been seen firing the flares from land,” said the spokesman.
“It wasted our time and the volunteer coastguards’ time. It was no different to someone making a hoax phone call to the police.
“We had to act just in case it was a real emergency, but we cover a large patch of the coast from the Aberdyfi estuary to Ravenglass in Cumbria, and we are dealing with these cases far too often.”
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/time-wasting-youths-blasted-coastguard-10773828
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