IT IS interesting to read that coastguards are ‘urging people to know where they are’ after an ambulance and two teams of coastguard volunteers were sent to the wrong Seaton beach, 80 miles from the actual incident.
It seems to me that the people making the call correctly stated that they were on Seaton Beach. It was not up to them to know that there are at least four other places in the UK called Seaton (not counting Seatown) – it’s lucky that teams weren’t called out in Sunderland!
This is exactly the sort of error that was widely predicted six years ago when local coastguard stations at Brixham, Portland, Solent and many others were closed in favour of a national call centre in Fareham. Local knowledge and experience was to be replaced by technology.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency didn’t listen and went ahead with their ‘modernisation’, and now they are ‘unable to comment’ on why this happened. At least on this occasion nobody was seriously harmed by the delay.
STEVE WILLIAMS
St Andrews Rd Bridport
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