Sea Palling Lifeboat crew speak out after station suspended

Volunteers at Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat have been told by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that their Beach Road station is off service until further notice due to anonymous complaints filed to the MCA about the station.

The nature of the complaints remain unknown, and the crew have been told the station will be off service until a full MCA investigation is completed.

READ MORE: Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat suspended after complaints

Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat Station, in Beach Road (Image: Adam Barker)

Members of the crew have said the decision to suspend the life-saving service they provide is both “disappointing and frustrating” - but the defiant crew said they will still be on standby to offer their support to the beach's coastguard in the case of emergency.

“We just want to get back out on the boat and get back to saving lives,” a member of the crew, who requested not to be named, said at Sea Palling Beach on Thursday (June 15).

“We’re coming into the peak summer season - the beach is going to be heaving and needs the lifeboat.

“The capability of the crew is exceptional, with so much experience. The volunteers give up so much time on such a regular basis.

READ MORE: Father and daughter rescued from rip current at Sea Palling

Sea Palling Beach (Image: Adam Barker)

“It’s out of our hands, but if something does happen on the beach we’ll be down regardless.

“We hope this investigation gets prioritised and we can get back up and running to continue to save lives together.”

An MCA spokesperson said: “A number of complaints have been received by HM Coastguard about the Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat station.

"A decision was made to stand down the service while those complaints are looked into but it neither implies or imputes wrongdoing."

Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat, in Beach Road (Image: Adam Barker)