Burnham-On-Sea RNLI crews were called out on Friday afternoon (July 25th) following the activation of an emergency locator beacon, prompting a swift response from lifeboat crews and other rescue services.
With the tide at its lowest point, the station’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat, ‘Doris Day and Brian’, was launched from the bank of the River Parrett and headed into the Bristol Channel to assist Milford Haven Coastguard Control in locating the source of the alert.
The Barry Dock lifeboat and a Coastguard helicopter were also scrambled as part of a coordinated response.
Emergency locator beacons are designed to signal distress, so crews initially treated the situation with urgency. However, it was later discovered that the beacon had recently been sold and was likely triggered accidentally on land, rather than at sea.
With no lives at risk, the Burnham lifeboat crew was stood down and returned to shore.
Recovery of the lifeboat proved challenging due to the notorious Burnham mud, but launch authority Marc Smith praised the team’s efforts: “The infamous Burnham mud made recovery challenging, but with experience, teamwork and training this was achieved, and lifeboat, crew, plus launch tractors were taken to the station for an extremely muddy wash-down.”
