HOLY ISLAND COASTGUARD RESCUE TEAM WARNS MOTORISTS TO ADHERE TO SAFETY SIGNS WHEN CROSSING CAUSEWAY

Over the last month Holy Island Coastguard Rescue Team has been called to attend six incidents involving vehicles becoming trapped on the Holy Island Causeway. Many of the motorists involved have dismissed visible warning signs and causeway crossing time tables, risking their lives to cross as the tide begins to flood the causeway. They are effectively driving into the North Sea.

During the summer thousands of tourists visit Holy Island. These tourists bring enormous benefits to Holy Island and nearly all of them cross to and from Holy Island safely. But a minority still put themselves and others at risk.

Paul Duffy, who is the Amble Coastguard Sector Manager says:

As a Coastguard and a local to Holy Island I see how harrowing it is when members of the public get trapped in their cars on the Holy Island Causeway as the tide is flooding. These incidents could very easily end tragically. Thankfully, due to the dedication and professionalism of local Coastguard teams from Holy Island, Seahouses and Berwick and RNLI inshore and all weather lifeboats from Seahouses as well as RAF search and rescue helicopters from RAF Boulmer, no-one has been seriously hurt or injured on the Holy Island Causeway. However many vehicles have been written off by the ingress of sea water and the damage caused by the strong tidal currents.

My team and I are concerned about the number of causeway incidents in the last month. We hope that this is not an indicator of how many call-outs we might receive during our busy summer months.

Please check tide tables before you travel to or from Holy Island and observe the local warning signs. If you have visitors, or work in the tourism industry, please help us to spread the word, so that people leave us with pleasant memories of our wonderful coastline. Thank you.

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