Drunk men spark emergency call out

LERWICK coastguard team was called out on Wednesday night to assist police in the search for two men seen entering the sea at Breiwick.

Alerted by a member of the public at about half past eleven, the men were described as severely intoxicated and one of them stripped down to the waist in the water, in the area between the Sletts and the South Road roundabout.

Coastguards were able to recover the man from the water when his companion suddenly disappeared.

At this stage Lerwick lifeboat was called out to carry out a coastline search as there were fears that he could also be in the water.

However, he was reported to have been found by police elsewhere in the town a short time later and the lifeboat stood down at a quarter to one.

A Shetland Coastguard spokesman said: “This was potentially a dangerous situation particularly when drink is involved.”

Police said on Thursday morning that one of the men was taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital for a checkup and later released.

Neither of the men is believed to be from Shetland.

A police spokesman said that it was not advisable to go into the freezing water, particularly when under the influence of alcohol.