11:00am Monday 6th July 2009
By Naomi Loomes
Coastguards have asked people to warn them if they set off Chinese Lanterns after a string of false alarms along the Sussex coast.
The latest incident took place on Saturday night between Bexhill and Pevensey in East Sussex.
Dover Coastguard was called to a sighting reported as a "red flare", which is sent up by a boat in distress.
Watch officer Phil Binks said: "It turned out that countless numbers of these lanterns had been released.
"They are being used more and more as part of beach barbecues.
"Volunteers have to drop everything and go to pick up a coastguard vehicle. These incidents are taking up valuable resources."
The use of Chinese lanterns, which float off into the air until they disintegrate, are also regularly mistaken for UFOs A spokesman for The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said people should contact them first if they are taking Chinese lanterns to the beach at dusk.
He said: "We do experience this problem with firework displays too and encourage organisers to inform us of their intentions so that we know the likely source of red flare sightings."
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