SEARCH IN MID CHANNEL

A lifeboat and a rescue helicopter have been searching overnight after a ferry passenger spotted what looked like a person in the water mid channel.

At 10.45pm on Sunday, Brixham Coastguard was contacted by a passenger who had travelled on the ferry Armorique from Roscoff in France to Plymouth.  At around 7pm and mid way across the channel (30 miles south of Plymouth), he told crew that he had spotted a person in the water.  A visual search of the surrounding water was made while the vessel was underway and crew were unable to see the person in the water.

Brixham Coastguard coordinated a search and the Royal Navy rescue helicopter from Culdrose and Salcombe RNLI lifeboat have been searching the area mid channel over Sunday night.  Other vessels in the area including the fishing vessel Katrina and research vessel Cefas Endeavour also helped with the search.

The search located a balloon and a fishing marker float in the search area and the search ended this morning with nothing else found.

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