Sea swimmer and Felixstowe town councillor Seamus Bennett was one of those who emergency services were looking for following a tip off from a member of the public.

A Felixstowe town councillor has assured people he was never in danger after his daily dip sparked a full scale rescue operation on Tuesday.

Seamus Bennett, who is a qualified UK Swim Smooth coach, was swimming near Felixstowe pier with a couple of friends, as he does on a regular basis, when a bystander called the Coastguard fearing the bathers were in danger.

It is believed one swimmer waving to another as they waited for him to join them sparked the misunderstanding, which led to a rescue helicopter, two Coastguard crews, four police cars and two ambulance being sent to the scene.

Mr Bennett and his friends had finished their swim and got out of the sea, oblivious to the fact the rescue teams were searching for him. A member of the Coastguard spoke with him and confirmed all was well.

"We were doing a normal swim," Mr Bennett told the media. "We go swimming every day.

"It was a shame to have used all those resources."

Mr Bennett recently helped promote Felixstowe beach getting its Blue Flag status. He helped set up Felixstowe Swimscapes sea swimming group.

A Coastguard spokesman said: "Felixstowe and Shingle Street Coastguard Rescue Teams, Harwich RNLI ILB and ALB, Walton ALB and the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Lydd were sent and completed extensive search plans to locate the casualties.

"After four hours of searching a member of the Felixstowe coastguard team found some swimmers that matched the description.

"Thank you to the first informant who called in the incident."

In an emergency dial 999 and ask for the coastguard.