Recording of hoax mayday call released

A recording of the hoax call that led to a major air and sea search has been released by police.

Officers took the “relatively unusual” step as they aim to track down the person responsible for what they believe to be a false emergency call-out earlier this month.

The coastguard received a mayday call at about 5:50pm on Monday 18 June.

An extensive search was launched but nothing was found during the five-hour operation in rough weather conditions.

Police believe the call was made from the Banff and Macduff area of Aberdeenshire. In the short audio clip, the caller says “mayday” three times and claims that the trio on board was having to “abandon ship”.