SALISBURY firefighters created quite a splash when they responded to an emergency call - halfway through Saturday's Rotary Club Swimathon.

Three of the six-man team had to leap out of the pool at Godolphin School and race across the playing field still in their swimwear as they rushed to answer the 999 alert.

Bemused onlookers said they saw the crew hauling on their clothes as they ran.

Organisers at the event say the team, made up of full-time and retained firefighters, had a radio with them in case they were called to an incident.

Within minutes of leaving the water, the crew were on their way to Salisbury District Hospital where fire alarms had gone off.

The call turned out to be a false alarm.

As one of the top performing teams last year, the firefighters had hoped to set a new swimathon record.

The call-out poured cold water on their attempt, but the three remaining team members swam on to complete an impressive 184 lengths in the 55 minutes allowed.

Salisbury Stingrays second team set a new standard by clocking up 216 lengths, Salisbury Masters came second with 208 and Salisbury Stingrays first team swam 188.

A total of 38 teams took part in the third swimathon with 204 swimmers completing 4681 lengths between them.

The sponsored event raised money for the Parkinson's Disease Society, The Trussell Trust, Salisbury Hospice Care Trust and charities supported by Salisbury Rotary Club.

Previous Salisbury swimathons have raised almost £20,000 for good causes, and organisers hope this year's will be the most successful yet.

Teams taking part included St Edmund's Sports College, Bishopdown Guides, the Scouts and the Salisbury Journal.

"It's not really about how many lengths you swim, it's not really a race," said organiser Ron Millar.

"It's about raising money for local charities and we hope we will continue to do so for many years to come."