A COASTGUARD helicopter was called out on Tuesday evening to search for a paddleboarder who had gone missing.

The incident happened on the River Wye at Chepstow shortly before 8pm.

HM Coastguard staff in Chepstow said they received a report a paddleboarder on the river had been reported overdue. 

The coastguard sent a helicopter from St Athan and a rescue team from its Chepstow base to carry out a search of the river.

A lifeboat crew from the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) in Beachley was also called in to join the mission.

According to SARA, contact had been lost with the paddleboarder, who had been travelling downstream from Monmouth, "after he had reported that he couldn't exit the river".

He "eventually made it back up the Wye to Tintern to be reunited with his family around 11pm" as a lifeboat was arriving to check that stretch of the river, SARA said.

The Coastguard added the paddleboarder had been found by a family member and was "safe and well".

SARA described the Wye in Monmouthshire as "a serious stretch of river and deserves respect", and urged paddleboarders and kayakers to follow safety advice.