On the evening of Sunday 28 June 2026, a member of the public dialled 999 and asked for the Coastguard after spotting what appeared to be an arm sticking out of the water in the River Mersey near Egremont, on the Wallasey side of the estuary. Within minutes a major multi-agency search was under way along the Wirral waterfront.
It was the team’s 169th incident of 2026. Here is what happened, and why — even though it turned out to be a false alarm — the call was exactly the right thing to do.
A full multi-agency response
A report of a possible person in the water is treated with the utmost seriousness, and the scale of the response reflected that. The agencies tasked were:
- Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team
- Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, with their Marine Fire One boat
- Merseyside Police
- North West Ambulance Service
- North West Ambulance Hazardous Area Response Team (HART)
Marine Fire One searched the water itself, while the remaining emergency services searched the shoreline and spoke with members of the public in the area. Wirral Council CCTV operators also scanned the water using the cameras that line the waterfront — a reminder of how many pairs of eyes a single 999 call can bring to bear within minutes.
A garden chair, not an arm
During the search, Coastguard officers located the source of the report: an upturned garden chair, with a couple of its legs protruding from the water. From a distance, in moving water and fading light, those legs had looked enough like an arm to prompt the call.
With nothing else found within the search area, the incident was stood down and recorded as a false alarm with good intent — the official term for a genuine, well-meant report of something that turns out not to be an emergency. The garden chair is believed to have been the object first seen.
Why the 999 call was right
It would be easy to feel embarrassed about calling out five agencies for a garden chair. You absolutely should not. As the team themselves put it, the member of the public did exactly the right thing by calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard.
“If you’re ever concerned that someone may be in danger in or around the water, always make the call. We’d much rather respond to a false alarm with good intent than risk not attending an incident.” — Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team
That is the whole point. The cost of checking is a wasted hour for a team of volunteers and professionals who would far rather be wrong. The cost of not checking — of assuming “it’s probably nothing” when a life is actually at risk — is measured in minutes that cannot be bought back. A report that turns out to be a chair, a buoy or a bundle of clothing is a good outcome, not a wasted call.
If you think someone’s in trouble in the water
The same instinct applies right along the Wirral coast, from the Mersey at Egremont and New Brighton round to the Dee and the sands off Hilbre. If something doesn’t look right:
- Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. On the coast, in the estuary or on the beach, the Coastguard is the service to request — not least because your phone’s location data helps them pinpoint where to look.
- Don’t talk yourself out of it. If you think you’ve seen a person in difficulty, report it. Let the professionals decide whether it’s a chair.
- Stay and keep watching. Note landmarks and keep your eyes on the spot if you safely can — it is surprisingly hard to relocate an object in moving water once you look away.
- Don’t go in after them. Entering the water yourself turns one casualty into two. If there’s a lifebuoy nearby, use it; otherwise wait for the team.
This call came barely a few days after the same team handled eight incidents in a single hot day across the Wirral coast. The warm weather is keeping the estuary busy, and most of what catches people out is the tide. Before you head onto the sands, check today’s safe crossing window for Hilbre, or tide times for the rest of the Wirral coast, and read our guide on what to do if you get cut off by the tide.
Our thanks to the volunteers of Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team and to the crews of Merseyside Fire & Rescue, Merseyside Police, North West Ambulance Service and HART for their response — and to the member of the public who made the call.
Published 29 June 2026. Incident details are sourced from the Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team, covering their incident 169 of 2026 on the evening of 28 June 2026. Photographs are illustrative images of the team. HilbreTides is an independent safety and information site for visitors to Hilbre Island and the wider Wirral coast.
Quick links: today’s Hilbre crossing window · all Wirral tide times · safety guide · more rescue reports.