A LAKES mountain rescue team responded to reports of an incident near Coniston Water.

Coniston Mountain Rescue Team were alerted by Cumbria Police to a 'light flashing' near to the summit of Beacon in Coniston on Tuesday morning.

The team were called out at 9.55am after an outdoor pursuits instructor spotted a light flashing whilst out with a group near Coniston Water.

Initial investigations with the local farmer suggested that the flashing light may be a balloon.

In an effort to reassure both the mountain rescue team and the police, two team members tracked down the offending article which was a discarded metallic Helium 21st Birthday balloon.

The balloon was then removed to prevent littering and the recurrence of similar incidents.

In total, the incident took two mountain rescue team members one hour and 30 minutes.