UK Coastguard issues safety plea after nine children reported missing at UK beaches in one day
UK Coastguard has issued a
safety plea for parents to keep a close eye on their children at the beach,
after responding to nine separate missing children reports in one day (Monday 15
August 2016) across the UK coast.
At least two reports of missing
children today were at West Wittering in West Sussex.
All the children were found safe
and well, but with so many reports coming in during the day, many UK Coastguards
Rescue Teams have increased their regular patrols and stayed near the beaches in
case of further emergencies.
Dai Jones, Duty Controller for UK
Coastguard said: ‘We have had quite a few calls about missing children in the
last 12 hours.‘It has been a beautiful day today and it has been very busy, where we have responded to at least nine call outs for missing children. It’s always a huge worry when children go missing near the beach – not just for the parents but for the UK Coastguard as well. There’s always a possibility that children will stray too close to the sea and without appropriate adult supervision anything could happen. We are urging parents to a keep a close eye on their children when at the beach - thankfully today’s missing children had just wandered off and were located safe and well by the teams.
‘We urge parents or guardians to
make sure that their children are well supervised at the coast. If you can, head
for a RNLI life guarded beach – there are over 210 across the UK coast – and
agree a recognisable meeting point. Show
your children the nearest lifeguard station and tell your children to head there
and tell a lifeguard if they get lost.
Busy beaches can disorientate
people, especially children, so take advantage of local wristband schemes for
younger children.’