A major air and sea search was launched for a suspected missing fisherman on the Western Isles – only to find he had come ashore hours earlier.
The man was reported missing at Loch Erisort on Lewis at 10.45pm on Thursday when his vessel was overdue.
It is thought he had engine difficulties but managed to get himself to shore.
He was traced by police at 2am yesterday afternoon on the road near Balallan, wet and disorientated.
The man was then taken to Western Isles Hospital for a check up and was said to be “safe and well.”
The Stornoway RNLI Lifeboat, the coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Stornoway, police, South Lochs Inshore Rescue Team and the Stornoway, Tarbet and Breascleate coastguard rescue teams had been involved in the mission.
A spokesman for the coastguard said: “After an extensive search, we’re pleased to report that the man has been found safe and well.
“It appears he had engine difficulties but managed to get himself to shore. This is a happy ending but it could have ended very differently.
“Whenever you go to sea, make sure you take appropriate communications, navigation and safety equipment with you.
“We recommend where possible, all vessels are fitted with VHF DSC radio equipment which can send a distress alert and, if it’s linked up to GPS, an accurate position of your vessel to the coastguard with one touch of a button.”
Meanwhile, a search in Lochaber for a missing Birmingham man proved fruitless for a second day.
Scott Clarke, 41, apparently abandoned his car in a layby on the A82 Inverness-Glasgow route just south of Ballachulish on Wednesday.
Police, a specialist dog team and the force helicopter conducted further land and water-based searches around the village, Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe assisted by local Coastguard and lifeboat personnel from the wider Lochaber and Oban areas without success.
Mr Clarke, who drives a “56” plate Ford Focus is about 6ft tall, slim and has short, brown hair. Police said he was likely to be wearing dark clothes.
Anyone who may have seen him should call police on 101.
