Vandals smash their way into local RNLI lifeboat station

- Sat 12th Mar 2005

Lifeboat crew on Hayling Island were shocked to find that their lifeboat station had been broken into on Thursday morning 10 March. The cost of replacing the equipment and repairing the damage will be around £5,000. 

Thieves smashed a ground-floor window into the crew room only to find bars prevented entry. They then forced their way through a small window in the main door.    Handheld VHF radios were taken and collecting boxes in the station's museum were smashed and the contents taken. Fortunately these are emptied regularly so only small amounts of cash were taken, but most of the money taken would have been from young children who regularly put their pennies in the collecting boxes when they visit the lifeboat station.   

One crew member said, "Lives are put at risk when vital equipment is stolen.  We depend on the hand-held radios to talk directly to other boats when out on call-outs.    "The RNLI also relies on voluntary contributions and fundraisers around the country work hard to raise money to buy equipment for the lifeboats and this is particularly upsetting for a charity. The lifeboat station is like a second home to us and we take such an incident very personally".    Many of the lifeboat crew had been at the station on Wednesday evening when both lifeboats were launched as part of a routine training exercise.

The station was locked up later that night. Thankfully the lifeboats were left undamaged but all the voluntary lifeboat crew were upset that a vital-life saving service should be targeted in this way.     Measures have now been taken to make sure that the lifeboat station is even more secure.    

Anyone who has any information about this incident should contact the local police on 0845 0454545.

By forum user, PaulFisher