RNLI suspends services at Portsmouth Lifeboat Station after anti-migrant protest
The station has not been in use since September 10
The RNLI has temporarily suspended services at the Portsmouth Lifeboat Station in Eastney after protests erupted near the station on September 6.
Police remained present at the Portsmouth Lifeboat Station as a precaution in the days following the protest as threats against the RNLI and its personnel skyrocketed in number across the country.
The station has not been in active use since September 10, but the RNLI have taken measures to ensure the safety of the city’s waters while it is out of service.
The charity also has another lifeboat station on Hayling Island that is in operation, and there is an independent lifeboat station in Gosport.
On September 6, two RNLI all-weather lifeboats, deployed from the Isle of Wight, landed in Eastney Point after picking up 120 migrants who were attempting to cross the English Channel from France.
As reports about the boats landing spread, demonstrators flocked to the area to protest the arrival of the migrants. Multiple people have since been charged with violent disorder as a result of the late-night protest, and several police officers were treated for injuries on the scene.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “Portsmouth Lifeboat Station has been temporarily off service since 10 September.”
“We hope to have the lifeboat station back on service as soon as possible.”
The regional head of the south-east for the charity, Jacqui Irons, said: “We have a duty of care to our people, we therefore took the decision to pause activity at the station to review crew safety and wellbeing and to support those involved in the incident on September 6.
“Search and rescue cover continues to be provided by flank RNLI and independent lifeboat stations, and the most appropriate asset to respond to any incident will be co-ordinated through HM Coastguard as is the case around the rest of the coast.”
She added the charity looks forward to the Portsmouth RNLI “returning to operational service in the near future”.
The charity’s chief executive, Peter Sparkes, has said abuse of RNLI volunteers was “wholly unacceptable in a civilised society”.
He said recent protests generated “deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel”.