Bude Coastguard Rescue Team members were paged at 19:06 yesterday evening, along with Boscastle Coastguard Team, with both teams tasked by the Coastguard Operations Centre in Falmouth to locate a missing male. He had embarked on a walk from Crackington Haven to Boscastle at lunchtime but had yet to arrive at his destination, so his concerned partner understandably raised the alarm.

While Bude CRT made their way to Crackington Haven, to begin a search heading south along the cliffs from there, Boscastle CRT made their way to Boscastle harbour to liaise with the his partner, and begin their search north, with a plan for both teams to meet along the path and reconfigure their search if the missing male – who was accompanied by his two dogs – had at that point not been located.

As Bude CRT arrived in Crackington Haven, a hasty search of the immediate area began, beginning with the local pub. When one Rescue Officer asked bar staff if they had spotted the missing male, a customer recognised the description and said she thought he was directly outside the pub.

The person in question was quickly located by the team and it was indeed him. He had not been able to complete the walk and had returned to his initial starting point. In a series of unfortunate circumstances, both he and his partner had not been able to contact each other throughout the afternoon, leading to the concerns for his welfare.

This marks Bude CRT’s fastest successful missing person search to date: completed within one minute!