Revellers who fire off nautical distress flares just for fun risk being prosecuted, warned a coastguards spokesman.

Auxilliary coastguard Terry Pond was speaking after false alarms on Christmas Day.

He said: "People might think that because it's Christmas it doesn't matter and nobody will see it, but they do.

"These red parachute flares can be seen as far off as Chatham in Kent, and at Southend Airport. They go very high into the air and burn for about 30 seconds, which is a lot longer than an ordinary rocket.

"It is a criminal offence to let these things off without good cause, and the police could prosecute.

"On Christmas Day somebody in Kings Road, Westcliff, saw a red flare off Canvey. Southend Coastguard went out to Two Tree Island, Leigh, to investigate and then another one was seen over Canvey Point.

"He activated three instant response coastguards on Canvey who did a search from Holehaven to Canvey Point, but nothing was found.

"It was just somebody having some excitement, but it was very time-consuming. Fortunately no other services were involved at the time, but it could have been a proper emergency."

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