Burnham‑On‑Sea RNLI crews were called out on Wednesday evening (March 18th) after a walker reported seeing a suspicious object floating in the River Brue.
The crew had been preparing for a routine pre‑launch briefing at 7pm when their pagers sounded at 7.04pm, prompting an immediate emergency launch of the D Class lifeboat Burnham Reach.
A member of the public walking along the River Brue footpath beside Apex Park had spotted what appeared to be a black plastic bag floating in the water and raised the alarm.
Coastguards tasked the lifeboat to carry out a full search of the river. Crews deployed three white flares to improve visibility as light faded, but after a thorough search no object was found.
The volunteers were stood down at 8.15pm and returned to Burnham slipway for recovery and wash‑down before being made ready for their next call‑out.
Launch Authority Phil Counsell said: “We launched in less than 15 minutes into a calm sea state, close to the top of the tide, with excellent visibility, although rapidly diminishing light, necessitating the use of white flares.”
Burnham‑On‑Sea RNLI operates an 8.5m Atlantic 85 lifeboat and a 4.95m D Class inflatable, with the station officially opened in May 2004.
