Update: Large scale search for woman in dressing gown called off after she contacted the police through Twitter (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Update: Large scale search for woman in dressing gown called off after she contacted the police through Twitter

10:21am Thursday 7th February 2013 in News

A large scale multi-agency search has been called off after a woman who was seen running across the road got in touch with police on Twitter.

A public appeal was circulated this morning after police received reports from concerned members of the public who witnessed a woman running across a main road in her dressing gown towards a beach near Aldingham.

As a result, police officers including dog handlers, coast guard, Bay Search and Rescue, air support, and mountain rescue were deployed to search the area to locate the woman and check on her welfare.

After circulating the appeal, a woman from Aldingham contacted the Inspector leading the search, Kevin Spedding via his Twitter account @KevinSpedding and also contacted Cumbria Constabulary’s Twitter page, @Cumbriapolice, to inform officers that the woman in question was her. She had rushed across the road in order to take a photograph.

Inspector Kevin Spedding said: “Thankfully, the woman we were looking for was safe and well and made contact with us to let us know the circumstances of this morning’s sighting.

“There was a perfectly innocent explanation for her actions this morning however we are grateful to the members of the public who alerted us to their concerns.

“We would much rather be called out to a false alarm than have people be afraid to contact us with any concerns - as we could miss an opportunity to help.

“This incident also shows how effective social networking can be. We were instantly able to communicate with a wide section of the local community who follow us on Facebook and Twitter. I’d urge everyone to follow Cumbria police, @Cumbriapolice and the local community should follow me on Twitter @KevinSpedding, so that they can get instant information about police activity in their area, wherever they may be.”