Clyde Coastguard is warning parents to be vigilant whilst their children are using inflatable boats and toys after it co-ordinated two incidents involving inflatables within an hour.

In the first incident, two adults and two children were rescued by a cabin cruiser after being blown out to sea. The two children had been blown off shore in a rubber dinghy. Two adults then went in after them and also began to struggle.

Clyde Coastguard received a 999 call at just before 4.00pm and immediately requested Largs Inshore Lifeboat and Troon Lifeboat to launch. Ardrossan Coastguard Rescue Team also attended and was first on scene reporting the situation back to Clyde Coastguard. The Coastguard immediately made a Pan broadcast to all shipping and received a response from a cabin cruiser, 'Gannett II', which rescued the four, cold, wet but otherwise unharmed. They were checked over by a waiting ambulance at Clyde Marina, which confirmed that they were uninjured after their ordeal.

Just three quarters of an hour later, Clyde Coastguard was again requested to assist with an incident involving another inflatable. This time, the rubber ring had been blown from a beach at Ayr with two children on it. The Coastguard asked the Royal Navy helicopter from Prestwick to divert from another incident involving divers being
co-ordinated by Forth Coastguard. In addition, the Troon Lifeboat was also requested to launch. However, before the helicopter and lifeboat reached the scene, two members of the public entered the water and rescued the two children, bringing them back to shore.

Stuart Atkinson, Watch Manager at Clyde Coastguard said, "Today has been particularly warm and sunny, however there have been offshore winds which are very hazardous when using inflatables such as dinghies, rubber rings and other toys. We would ask adults to keep a very watchful eye on children using these toys at the beach, whatever the weather, and to tether inflatables to the shore. In these two cases, the children were unharmed after their ordeal, however, the story could easily have been far different."