Five held over boat vandalism incident

FIVE men have been charged over an alleged vandal attack, which sparked a £20,000 search-and-rescue operation when two small boats were cut free and drifted into the open sea.

By The Newsroom

Published 18th Aug 2011, 17:24 BST

The men, aged between 18 and 21, are set to be reported to the procurator fiscal following the incident in North Berwick on August 6.

The men were charged with various offences, including the theft of boats and vandalism.

CCTV footage provided by the Scottish Seabird Centre was used to identify the suspects, and inquiries are ongoing to trace others believed to have been involved.

Two RNLI lifeboats, several coastguard teams and an RAF helicopter were scrambled after a fishing boat found an empty kayak floating off the coast of North Berwick.