MAN AND BOY RESCUED FROM UPTURNED FISHING BOAT

A man and his teenaged son have been rescued from their upturned fishing boat this afternoon.

Liverpool Coastguard received a call at 12.45 pm to report that the man and his son were on top of the hull of their orange open topped fishing boat. The boy was wearing a lifejacket. They had called a shore contact, using their waterproof mobile phone, who had then called the Coastguard.

Lytham St Annes RNLI inshore and all weather lifeboats were requested to launch and soon found the man and his son off Lytham St Annes. Both had been in the sea for about half an hour and were very cold. They were brought to shore and were then transferred on to hospital.

Rescue Coordination Centre Manager Tony Topping said:

"Fortunately the man and his son were found relatively quickly following their phone call and they had been able to scramble onto the hull of their small vessel.

"If you're using your mobile phone in an emergency situation at sea or along the coast call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. This must always be your first call.

"We would like to remind people who are setting to sea in small boats to take a reliable method of communication with them along with a back-up method. A portable waterproof vhf radio is ideal with a waterproof mobile phone or phone in a plastic bag as back-up. Remember that in many places around the coast mobile phone coverage is patchy and a radio is much more reliable."

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