(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-11 12:41

LONDON - British Royal Air Force (RAF) sent 14 helicopters to the North Sea on Sunday following a security alert on oil rigs there, the Sky TV reported.

Two oil platforms in the North Sea are being evacuated in the security alert at Sunday noon, according to the report, which said the helicopters carried a bomb disposal unit.

The operation, some 281 km northeast off the Aberdeen coast, began at 0920 GMT on Sunday and is being coordinated by Aberdeen Coastguard. A total of 539 workers are being taken off the oil facility.

A spokesman for the Grampian Police said it was "large scale" operation and that two platforms were involved. They are being transported to other rigs in the area.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the RAF was assisting the Grampian Police.

Reports said that a woman on the platform who had found a "device" on board had sparked the incident. But a spokesman for the RAF said "we are not sure about the device."

The RAF spokesman said that the operation could result in up to700 people being evacuated.