THREE rescue teams were called out after alarms were raised over an abandoned kayak on the Cumbrae shore.

The kayak was left on the shoreline at Kames Bay in Millport amid concerns that someone may have been in difficulty in the water.

The Cumbrae coastguard rescue team and the Largs and Troon RNLI lifeboats were all involved in the search on Tuesday afternoon.

It was then discovered that the kayak,  which was partially flooded, had been there for some time, with the incident treated as a false alarm with good intent.

 John Griffiths, station operations manager at the Largs lifeboat, said: "As we are approaching the nicer weather people will start using the waters around our coast more frequently.

"Now is the perfect time to make sure your kayak, canoe, dinghy, tender or other craft is safely secured and suitably marked before taking to the water.

"Labelling your craft and its contents will not only help to avoid false alarms if you keep your craft on the shoreline, but it also gives search and rescue assets valuable information should you become separated from your items out on the water and require assistance."