Vandals have damaged an emergency telephone situated at Ryde Inshore Rescue at Appley overnight, putting lives at risk.
The volunteer lifeboat crew arrived on station earlier this morning (Sunday) to discover the phone damaged beyond use, much to their despair.
The yellow, free-to-use phone links directly to HM Coastguard who mobilise helicopters, lifeboats and Coastguard Rescue Teams to a person or vessel in danger. Although mobile phones are owned by near enough everyone nowadays, the emergency line allows reliable, hard-wired and direct contact to the emergency services no matter what.
2 years ago the charity took over responsibility for the telephone after the Isle of Wight Council cut funding in the 2015/2016 budget.
Police have been informed of the criminal damage and CCTV footage is being reviewed.
