COWES lifeboat took part in a search for a woman who was mistakenly thought to have jumped off a bridge into the River Itchen in Southampton yesterday (Saturday).
The crew, who were attending the naming ceremony for Calshot lifeboat's new Atlantic 85 RIB, at Calshot lifeboat station, heard of Hamble lifeboat's emergency call-out from Solent Coastguard and, with Calshot, volunteered to join in the search.
The call-out came at around 3pm.
On their arrival, a woman was on the bridge's edge, ready to leap, but the crew was told that a member of the public saw another woman jump from the bridge into the Itchen.
Cowes lifeboat helmsman Max Rimington said: "As we approached the Itchen bridge we saw a woman standing on the edge of it. Behind her, on the bridge, was an ambulance and a number of police.
"Although, eventually, the police talked the woman to safety, we were told another woman had been seen to have already jumped from the bridge.
"The lifeboats then carried out a thorough search of the river, assisted by police and mobile coastguard units on both banks, and the Solent coastguard helicopter.
"But after 40 minutes or so Solent Coastguards called off the search, having then been satisfied that the person who had reported seeing the jump had been mistaken."
The other crew members of Cowes lifeboat who took part were Chris Cockroft and Graham Creigh.