Paddleboarder rescued 3km from shore

A paddleboarder has been rescued after being blown 3km (1.8 miles) offshore into the Firth of Forth.

The RNLI was called to help two people in difficulty off Portobello beach on Sunday morning.

One paddleboarder was near the shoreline but the other was swept out to sea in increasingly choppy waters.

The Kinghorn lifeboat rescue crew said the man was "very lucky" someone managed to keep sight of him and guided them to his location.

The emergency services were called at about 10:00 and the Coastguard requested the help of RNLI Kinghorn, who reached the beach 15 minutes later.

Neil Chalmers, from Kinghorn RNLI, said one of the two paddleboarders was at the shoreline but the other had been blown offshore by the strong southerly wind.

"Fortunately, the first informant had managed to keep eyes-on the casualty and stay on the phone to the coastguard," he said.

"They were able to guide us to the second casualty who we soon located 1.6 nautical miles [2.9km] offshore.

"The male casualty was very cold but had managed to stay on his board whilst the wind blew him further offshore into increasing wave heights."

He added: "The man was very lucky to have had someone onshore who kept him in sight and was able to guide the lifeboat to locate him."

The RNLI recommends that paddleboarders check the weather, particularly before going on the sea,and having a buoyancy aid and means of calling for help.