PLANS to close Portland coastguard station have been met with dismay in West Dorset.

Consultation on the proposed closures – which will see the end of the Portland station with the possible loss of 26 jobs – ends on October 6.

The changes propose that emergency calls will be made to a 24-hour maritime operations centre in Hampshire.

A centre in Falmouth will cover the most westerly parts of the south coast.

Although the station itself is due to close the Portland search and rescue helicopter is safe and has a new contract until 2018.

But the coastguards responsible for calling it out will not be in Dorset.

It is estimated the coastguard centres to close – which include Brixham in Devon – will save the government £4.6 million.

Lyme Regis fisherman Harry May said: “I’m afraid the closure of Portland Coastguard would result inevitably in death.

“Many divers go out from Lyme Regis, it’s a very popular pastime, and no matter how well they try, accidents do happen and they get the bends and they need to get to a decompression chamber very quickly.

“It’s those vital minutes that could save lives and it might just be too late.” Speaking personally Clive Edwards, station manger of the volunteer NCI Lyme Bay National Coastwatch Station, said closing Portland was a deplorable decision.

He said: “I was an auxiliary coastguard on Portland Bill for many years and I just think from a personal perspective it is certainly something we would deplore.

“I am amazed they are contemplating closing both Portland and Brixham – I would have rather anticipated one or the other.

“From a Coastwatch perspective it doesn’t change anything dramatically. We continue to provide watch-keeping and are now on summer school hours from 9am to 8pm for the first time.”

A coastguard officer, who did not wish to be named, said the staff at Portland were distraught.

He said: “The general feeling is one of numbness and shock that such a drastic decision would have been taken despite all the concerns that have been raised during the consultation process.

“The potential exists for lives to be lost.”

With a call centre covering Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and parts of Sussex essential local knowledge would be lost, he said.

The News’ sister paper the Dorset Echo is running a Save our Lifesavers campaign and urging readers to support the siting of a new super Maritime Operations Centre in the borough of Weymouth and Portland.