Blackpool: Man rescued from sea was not who RNLI searched for

The man was taken to hospital as rescuers continued their search

Lifeboat volunteers rescued a man from the sea off the Lancashire coast before discovering he was not the person they were searching for.

The man, in his 40s, was helped from the water near Blackpool's Central Pier on Thursday night, police said.

He was taken to hospital as the RNLI and Fleetwood Coastguard continued to search for the first casualty - who was later found "safe and well elsewhere".

All teams were then stood down and returned home safely.

Fleetwood Coastguard said the first rescued man "turned out to be a different person to the one we were originally tasked to find".

The man in his 40s was helped from the water near Central Pier at about 21:40 GMT

They added: "That casualty was handed over to North West Ambulance and the lifeboat and ourselves continued to search for the original casualty.

"All teams were eventually stood down. All teams returned home safely. "