A giraffe-shaped balloon sparked an emergency lifeboat call-out in the Firth of Forth on Tuesday night.

South Queensferry lifeboat was sent out after a member of the public reported an aircraft ditching in the water.

When the team reached the object however, they discovered it was a giraffe-shaped helium balloon.

A Coastguard spokesman said the call at 9.50am was made in good faith.

He said: "The South Queensferry lifeboat was called out to a possible aircraft ditching in the Firth of Forth which turned out to be a giraffe-shaped helium balloon.

"The man who called wasn't trying to mislead us. He saw it and he thought it was an aircraft."

The RNLI Queensferry Lifeboat has launched 27 times since the beginning of 2016, saving seven lives and assisting 43 people.

Established in 1968 in an old ticket office, Queensferry Lifeboat has grown into one of Scotland's busiest inshore Lifeboat stations.