Crew members of the Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat have launched an appeal on social media after members of the public parked in designated emergency vehicle spaces outside their lifeboat station.
Taking to Facebook, the Lifeboat station – based along Sandown seafront near to Napoleons Landing and staffed entirely by volunteers – explained that several vehicles have parked in the clearly marked bays in just the past few hours.
The bays are in place to not only provide space for emergency vehicles attending incidents on the beach, but also to allow extra room for the lifesaving vessel and tractor equipment to be manoeuvred during launches.
Every second can count when someone is in distress at sea, and a rogue vehicle being in the way can hamper efforts to launch the lifeboat efficiently and safely.
Several photos of vehicles parked in the bay have been taken, with the bays wrongfully occupied by the public between 13:00 and 15:30 this afternoon.
Speaking on Facebook, a spokesperson said:
“We never understand why people need to park in the emergency vehicle bay out side Napoleon’s Landing, near our station.
Article continues below this advertisement “This greatly reduces our launch time to, and could cost lives.
“Please we are only trying to do our job, saving lives at sea and you are hampering our efforts.
“This year from the start we have been exceptionally busy and we know it will get busier.”
If you or someone else is in difficulty on the coast or at sea, or if you spot what you think may be unexploded ordnance, then dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Further safety information can be found at https://coastguardsafety.campaign.gov.uk/.
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Selfish idiots , sign of the times I suppose !
I assume these are holiday makers and to be fair they probably wouldn’t have parked there if their brains weren’t addled with Covid
Why should they be holidaymakers, we have our own crop of retarded self centered morons living on the Island.
Show the number plates. Can then be traced?
you show the number plates and name the people
Blame the council for their exhorbitant car parking charges.
Half a dozen cones blocking off the area would work – i’m amazed that the RNLI don’t already do that.
Hope they got tickets