Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards launched a search of Brean Down this week to investigate a sighting of lights.
The team headed to Brean beach on Thursday evening (October 29th) at 6.24pm after a lady raised the alarm.
“Our Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) had taken a 999 call from a concerned member of the public who had spotted some lights around the base of Brean Down and were concerned that there were people cut off by the tide,” said a spokesman.
“We made our way to Brean and stopped off at the Brean Beach entrance for a quick visual scan with binoculars as from that vantage point you can see a bigger stretch of the Down. No lights were spotted so we headed further along to the Brean Down Cafe entrance where we met up with the lady who had called it in.”
“She described the lights and where she had seen them but they were no longer visible from our location.
With the tide now on the turn and heading back out, two members of the team kitted up in PFDs (Personal Floatation Devices), grabbed a torch each and made their way along the base of the Down following the tide out while safely searching for anyone who may have been there.”
“While the first team did this, a second search team was deployed to head up the steps of Brean Down and along the top to check all the climber’s routes they follow once they have scaled the side and reached the top.”
“Still no torchlight was spotted and no persons were in the area. This may have been a case of climbers who have carried out a night climb (which is not unusual) and then left the area unaware they have been spotted and caused concern.”
“It was a good call by the lady who had dialled 999 asking for the Coastguards to report what she had seen and we thank her for her vigilance.”
Pictured: Coastguards at Brean during the incident (Photos: Burnham Coastguard)
