Coastguard warning after 723 man-hours devoted to rescuing people who ignore warning signs in west Dorset

That is message from the coastguard after rescue officers in west Dorset spent more than 723 man-hours during the last 12 months responding to people cut off from the tide or stuck in the mud, despite warning signs.

Lyme Regis Coastguard team spent 444 man-hours responding to 49 calls where people were “putting themselves in danger” - while officers based at West Bay dedicated more than 279 man-hours during 29 similar call-outs.

Rob Sansom, senior coastal operations officer for HM Coastguard, said: “The incidents we get involved in include people who are holidaymakers who are not aware of the risks and do not put two and two together. But there are also a lot of people who do not think the warnings apply to them.

“Accidents do happen and they are putting themselves in danger of losing their lives. The ones where people deliberately ignore signs to take pictures and put them on social media are the most frustrating. They just do not use common sense.

“This is not big brother trying to stop people enjoying themselves, this is about making sure that people are safe. We do get people swept out to sea along Chesil Beach and there has been a needless loss of life in recent times. This is proof that it is a real danger.”

In November, Lyme Regis Coastguard wasted 50 man-hours searching for a woman who was reported as stranded on the coast - but no-one was found. Last month, West Bay Coastguard spent 28 man-hours searching for a person reportedly stranded on cliffs in Burton Bradstock - believed to be a hoax call.

Earlier this year, three people became stuck in mud in Charmouth in as many weeks.

Sam Houston, senior coastguard operations officer for Lyme Regis Coastguard, said: “There is potential for people to get very seriously injured.

“You can be stuck in there for a long time and conditions can change very quickly.”

HM Coastguard said it could not determine how much money had been wasted on responding to these incidents.

A HM Coastguard spokesman said: “We do not calculate costs on a per incident basis, and so we do not hold this information.

“HM Coastguard is the national emergency service, and as such costings are based on maintaining this national network of teams appropriately rather than calculating costings for each incident.”

Mr Sansom added: “It is very difficult to put a cost on it. The helicopter can cost up to £2,500 to £3,000 an hour. It is the time that our volunteers put in that is the most disheartening. When employers kindly allow them to leave work to respond to a call which could be avoided, there is an obvious cost to businesses. But the time volunteers are essentially wasting where they could be with their families is really frustrating and of course can put our officers needlessly in danger.”

He said people should always call 999 when the coastguard is needed.

Lyme Regis RNLI has launched seven times in the past 12 months to rescue seven people in need of assistance after they had become cut off by the tide. 

A RNLI spokeswoman said: "Tidal cut offs are a common cause of RNLI rescues around the country so the charity is working hard to educate the public about potential hazards so they are aware of the dangers.

"Tide times and heights vary throughout the month so we advise people to always check the tide times and conditions before heading to the coast.

"Our volunteer lifeboat crews remain on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to anybody in difficulty around the coast."