Lifeboat crew launch to delivery van driver cut off by the tide
At 9.30am on Saturday 22 December 2018, HM Coastguard requested Morecambe’s RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew to go to the aid of a delivery van driver reported to be cut off, by the incoming tide, on the causeway between Sunderland Point and Overton.
The inshore lifeboat and inshore rescue hovercraft proceeded by road to their launch site, near the Golden Ball Hotel at Snatchems, before making their way down river. Local coastguard teams from Morecambe and Knott End were also in attendance. Arriving at the scene of the incident they discovered that the van driver had been rescued from the bonnet of his vehicle by one of the isolated hamlet’s residents and transferred safely to shore on Sunderland Point.
After a quick assessment, the delivery driver was taken on board the hovercraft and the crew transported him back to their launch site. Unfortunately, his vehicle and its contents had to be left; to await recovery once the tide had receded.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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