Stick to the official names of places along the coast or rescue could be delayed — that’s the warning from Milford Haven coastguard.

Vital seconds could be lost in an emergency situation if a local name does not match up with Ordnance Survey records used by the rescue service during operations.

Names which have caused confusion among coastguards recently include the ‘policeman’s helmet’ for an unnamed outcrop of rock near Tenby; ‘the mouse’ for Ricketts Head near Newgale, and ‘ski bay’ for an area known as Johnny’s Fields.

Some have been now been added to the coastguards’ maps, but the advice is to stick to the proper names wherever possible.

Christine Wakeford at Milford Haven coastguard said: “Generally, if anybody is on the coast path, I would suggest that rather than using a local name, use the Ordnance Survey map name, because that is what we use.

“I know of one area called the ‘witches cauldron’, near Ceibwr Bay, but that is not marked on the Ordnance Survey map.

“Those out walking should have a map with them at all times and then they will know the correct name if there are any problems.”

A man camping near Wisemans Bridge recently reported someone in trouble “just the other side of the policeman’s helmet”.

The coastguard had never heard of it, but visitors to the campsite had been calling it that for years.

“The Tenby lifeguard and coastguard had never heard of it, so it made it quite difficult to know what he was talking about.

“It was a false alarm, but if it had been a real person it would have delayed things considerably, because nobody knew what he was referring to,” said Kate John, of Milford Haven coastguard.

The coastguard station now has a copy of a climbers’ guidebook, which includes names that climbers have given to areas of the cliffs in south Pembrokeshire.