Volunteers spring into action at loch

A VOLUNTEER loch watch, born out of a tragedy in which four Glasgow fishermen died, sprang into action after a 999 caller reported cries for help from the water.

Rescue workers had stood helpless on the shores of Loch Awe in March 2009, as they waited almost two hours for a fire service boat to arrive from Renfrew. But an emergency call on Wednesday saw a local volunteer boat alerted and searching the water within minutes.

Police also immediately alerted local volunteer lookouts to scan the loch between Innis Chonain Island and Kilchurn Castle - the same area where the Glasgow fishermen had camped.

Iain MacKinnon, station officer at Oban Volunteer Coastguards, who is also a member of LochWatch, said the call was a false alarm, but it had served as a valuable test of the new scheme.