Crews search for man seen entering the Tay

Fire and rescue, police, coastguard, lifeboat and a helicopter all called to assist

An exhaustive search for a man who entered the River Tay in Perth on Saturday has proved fruitless.

A major multi-agency operation involving Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, the coastguard, the RNLI from Broughty Ferry and a helicopter from Prestwick swung into action following reports of the man being in the river.

He was earlier spotted on the Queen’s Bridge at around 4am.

Yesterday a police spokesperson said the search for the man would likely resume today.

“Another search is in the pipeline but it will depend on resources,” he said.

“At the moment all we can say is that inquiries are ongoing into the matter.”

He added: “Emergency services were alerted to a male on the Queen’s Bridge in Perth around 4am on Saturday. The male was seen to enter the water shortly afterward.

“Resources from police, coastguard and Scottish Fire and Rescue were at the scene.”

The initial search on Saturday focused on the Tay near the Queen’s Bridge but water rescue teams from the fire service then concentrated on the lower Friarton area of the river around 8am, with the rescue helicopter circling overhead.

Search teams then probed a stretch of water near Inchyra.

Scores of emergency vehicles involved in the operation were located in the South Inch car park, including staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service and a police incident response unit.

A spokesperson for Scottish Fire and Rescue said their staff stood down from the search around noon on Saturday along with an RNLI crew from Broughty Ferry.

There were seven fire units at the scene when the incident first came to light, including a specialist team from Glenrothes.

Picture: Stuart Cowper. The coastguard team during the river search.

Pictures: Stuart Cowper. Every emergency service was involved in the search for the man reported to have entered the Tay on Saturday.