AN ELDERLY man who was reported missing in Bude over the weekend, has since been found.

Michael Bond, 79, went missing from the Northcott Mouth beach area, at around 3pm on Sunday.

Bude Coastguard Rescue were paged at 7.46pm and tasked to assist Devon and Cornwall Police in the search. Rescue 924, the Coastguard Rescue helicopter based at St Mawgan, Hartland Search and Rescue Team, North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team and the Bude Lifeboat were also subsequently tasked.

Arriving at the search base at Northcott car park, Bude CRT liaised with the police before forming two search teams, both of who were instructed to search between Northcott and Bude, with one searching the shoreline and the other searching the cliff path.

Having completed their first search taskings and with no sign of the casualty, the teams were then given wider search instructions throughout the night, as were Hartland CRT and Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team.

After six hours of intense searching, Bude CRT, Hartland CRT and Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team were stood down at approximately 2.30am, having been advised by the police that the search would likely continue after daybreak, should there be no further developments throughout the night.

Fortunately, Mr Bond was located in the Bude area at around 7.45am on Monday morning, and was treated at the scene by a paramedic for the effects of hypothermia. He was taken by ambulance to hospital in Barnstaple.

A police spokesperson said: “The police would like to thank all the agencies and members of the public who assisted in the search for Michael.”