Lifeboat crew dressed in their best uniforms received a call to rescued two people from a capsized dinghy minutes after attending a Remembrance Sunday parade.

Moments after the Last Post was sounded at the memorial service in Lyme Regis, the volunteers rushed to rescue two people off Lyme Regis town beach.

The pair were unable to right their upturned dinghy 500m to the east of the Lyme Regis harbour entrance, and a call was put in for help at 11.58am on Sunday, November 12.

The RNLI lifeboat crew had only just finished marching in the town’s Remembrance Sunday parade at the time and were still dressed for the occasion in their best RNLI uniforms when they received the call.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

They then proceeded to the lifeboat station and launched the boat dressed in their full personal protective equipment (PPE).  

After rescuing one of the stricken pair from the water around the boat, the crew collected the second casualty from Lyme Regis Sailing Club’s safety boat, which had rescued her a short time earlier.  

The two people were taken into harbour and put into the care of crew from Axminster Fire Station, but due to the conditions, the dinghy was unable to be recovered.

A Coastguard Rescue Team and ambulance crew had also attended the scene.

Volunteer Helm Tom Crabbe said: “There was a big swell running this morning, particularly over Broad Ledge to the east of the main beach area.

“Once their dinghy had capsized the swell made it very difficult for the two sailors to right their boat. Once we got them safely ashore, we tried to recover the dinghy but this proved impossible in the conditions,” he added.

This was the 51st service call Lyme Regis RNLI has responded to this year.