Unattended climbing rope sparks search
A member of the public reported a climbing rope with nobody with it near Anvil Point which led to tasking of UK Coastguard for an initial search of the area.
Both lifeboats launched as the sun was going down and were quickly on scene. They were tasked to search the area at the base of the cliff around where the rope was located. A crew member from the inshore lifeboat was also put ashore to see what the rope was stuck on. It was found that the rope had got wrapped around a rock and jammed in place. The rope was cut so that the Coastguards could pull it to the top of the cliff to prevent any other calls. The lifeboats also searched the base of the cliff just to make sure that nobody was in difficulty.
With nothing else found all units were released to return to station. It was thought that the rope had simply been left in place when it jammed. We recommend that any discarded equipment is reported to the UK Coastguard to prevent false alarms.
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ALB Crew: (Coxn) Dave Turnbull, Gavin Steeden, John Deas, Phil Palmer, Laura Orchard, Duncan Youngs, Ben Jarvis
ILB Crew: (Helm) Tom Greasty, Bryan Jones, Andy Redout, Alice Haw
Shore Crew: (Head Launcher) Gary Buglass, (Winchman) Luke Kill, Nigel Bower, Julian Vass
Notes to Editors
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Photographs Credit Swanage Coastguard
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