Barrow Lifeboat called to rescue group cut off by high tide
Barrow Lifeboat Station’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon to go to the aid of a group of people on Foulney Island who had become stranded by the high tide.
The call for assistance came from the HM Coastguard base in Holyhead, at 1-22pm today. The information received was that a group of people had become stranded on Foulney Island by the incoming tide. It was also reported that some members of the group were attempting to reach the mainland by walking back along the embankment which had become submerged.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 1-39pm with Ben Jackson at the helm, assisted by Phil Taylor and Andy Baxter. The lifeboat made the short passage across to Foulney Island where the situation was assessed. Whilst nobody in the group had sustained any injuries, there were some who were wet and cold and so it was decided to evacuate all nine people using the lifeboat and take them back to the shore at the Foulney Island car park. Furness and Millom Coastguard Rescue Teams also attended the incident to provide support on land as required.
The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 2-30pm where it was washed down and made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was south westerly, Force 5, with the next high tide due at 2-02pm with a height of 9.0 metres.
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