Whitstable RNLI assist family cut off by the tide

Launching at 4.20pm the B-Class lifeboat Lewisco arrived 'on scene' nine minutes later. Helm Andy Williams said “We made a cautious approach to the foot of the clay cliff due to boulders on the sea bed. The Sheppey Coastguard Rescue team were at the top of the cliff and were contemplating a rope rescue should we not be able to extract the family by sea”.

The two parents and three children had managed to climb part of the way up the cliff to keep themselves out of the water as the tide was right up to the base of the cliff”

“Crewmember Vicky Kypta went ashore to assist the family onto the lifeboat, all were well and we landed them ashore at Leysdown beach where the coastguard team were waiting to assist”.

Helm Andy Williams continued “As ever following similar incidents to the one this afternoon our advice to those contemplating walks along the shoreline is always to be aware of tide, weather and other local conditions especially in the vicinity of cliffs such as those at Warden Point”.

Weather conditions at the time of the incident were cloudy skies but good visibility and a light force 2 winds with a smooth sea.

Notes to editors

· Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.

· The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Miss Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.

·She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.

·RNLI media contacts

· Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
07741 012004/ [email protected]

· Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256

· Hatti Mellor - Regional Communications Manager :07724 801305

For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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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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