Coastguard hits out at 'hoax' Gower cliff fall that cost rescue teams 'thousands'

Coastguard rescuers have expressed "extreme disappointment" after being called out to an alleged cliff fall in what is now believed to have been a hoax.

Mumbles Coastguard said the callout to Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, cost "thousands of both taxpayer and volunteer funds".

Rescuers were called out just before 5pm on Saturday to investigate a call received from a phone box near the beach.

The call had been abruptly cut off, before another call was received from a phone box in the same area - alleging that someone had fallen off a cliff and was in danger.

Crews arrived to find the phone box damaged and out of service, and after a large search by several dispatched services nothing else was found.

The coastguard said the call had taken up a lot of time on a day that was already busy, with this call out being the fourth call out of the day.

In a Facebook post, it added: "It has taken valuable resources away from important taskings, disrupted holidaymakers, local businesses and the lives of our and our partner services families.

"We'd like to thank all those involved with this callout and again express our extreme disappointment in this behaviour."

Crews from South Wales Police Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Oxwich Coastguard Rescue Team, Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat RNLI, RNLI Lifeguards Swansea, Welsh Ambulance Services, and HM Coastguard South and West Wales were also involved.

The Labour MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi, shared the Mumbles Coastguard post, calling the incident "never acceptable behaviour".

She added: "Please treat them with the respect they deserve so we can all be safe while enjoying our time with families and friends."