Lifeboat rushes to scene of Mickey Mouse 'emergency'

An RNLI lifeboat and Royal Navy helicopter rushed to the scene after a microlight was reported to have crashed into the River Forth - only to discover the downed "aircraft" was in fact a massive Mickey Mouse balloon.

A member of the public had raised the alarm shortly after 6pm on Saturday. They told emergency staff that they had seen what they thought was a microlight aircraft crashing into the river at Largo Bay.



Forth Coastguard alerted the Anstruther lifeboat and called in an helicopter from Prestwick, with the apparent emergency being treated as "serious". But when rescue crews arrived on the scene at 7pm they discovered no stricken aircraft in the water - only a massive balloon featuring Disney favourite Mickey.

Anstruther lifeboat press officer Tom Danks said teams had spotted an object bobbing around in the water three-quarters of a mile off shore from Lundin Links and thought it may have been a person in a life jacket. He said: "This started out as a pretty serious call-out. The information was that there was a microlight down and we knew there was a microlight flying in the area. When we approached it, it looked like someone in a life jacket. It was quite a giggle when we realised what it was."