appears to have been a hoax.

But Harbour Radio were forced to spend hours investigating the "mayday'' call before suspending any action.

The call was picked up on a communications radio used by Carmichael Sanitation Services in one of their trucks.

The call said: "Harbour Radio...Tango...Mayday...Mayday.'' The company reported it to Harbour Radio.

A spokesman said: "All vessels called Tango were contacted, the Bermuda helicopter was airborne, all marine broadcasts mentioned the call and ships up to 100 miles away were contacted.'' But there were no reports of where the call had come from. The spokesman said: "Further action has been suspended. We can only assume it was a hoax call.''