Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards had a busy afternoon on Wednesday (May 20th) after being called to a spate of incidents on local beaches which were filled with families taking advantage of hot weather and the easing of the Coronavirus lockdown.
Coastguards have warned visitors to take care as extra people flock into the region. Additional patrols are being carried this week and during the Bank Holiday weekend.
The Coastguard team was initially called to Berrow where a small group of people were reported to be a long way out in the mud attempting to reach the incoming tide, pictured below.
A spokesman says: “It was a very hot day and it can be tempting to try and reach the water’s edge to cool off.”
“When we arrived on scene a number of people approached us and expressed their concerns for those involved and they also confirmed that they had turned around and returned to a safer part of the beach and made their way off.”
“With this confirmed we had a quick sweep of the beach with some binoculars to ensure there was no one left out there before heading off to Brean for what we thought was a quick safety patrol, what we didn’t realise is, this is where our day would start.”
“As we progressed along the beach it soon became clear this was probably one of the busiest times we’ve ever seen. We continued along beach and as we reached Brean Down we were alerted to a family perched on the edge of Brean Down with a toddler wandering around.”
“We made quick time up the military road of the Down and were relieved to see the family just leaving the location. We can’t stress how dangerous this was and the consequences that could’ve come with it.”
“We gave some safety advice before spotting a group of people heading to the water with an inflatable boat, as we were approaching them we also had a report from our Operations room of concerns for someone swimming a long way out further along.”
“They all made their way back to safety just in time for us to head off back along the beach to a father and son who were struggling along in quite deep mud and issued more safety advice this was interrupted by an immediate call from our operations room with multiple reports of two persons in the water by Burnham Jetty.”
The Coastguard spokesman warns: “With the sheer numbers of people flocking to the coast all around the South West our patrols are now increasing for the rest of the week and the Bank Holiday. We are there to ensure beach safety and incident prevention work and from the looks of it, we will be busy.”
“Please remember to take your common sense and awareness to the beach and your litter home. If you do get into difficulty then either wave us down if we are about or dial 999 and ask for the Coastguards. Stay safe everyone and don’t forget to keep following Government guidelines.”
Pictured: Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards in Brean on Wednesday (Photos: Burnham Coastguards)
