Safety fear over stolen life buoys
Reporter AROUND 100 life belts a year are being vandalised or stolen from the banks of the Tyne.
Newcastle water safety officials expressed their concerns over the unusable life rings, which they fear could lead to somebody drowning.
The life aids are placed along the side rails of the river to help in case somebody gets into trouble in the Tyne.
A council spokesperson said: “Life belts are intended to save people when they fall into the water.
“While we do not have a statutory duty to provide them, we do check them regularly but they can be there one minute and gone the next. We replace on average 100 a year at a cost of £50 each.
“We would urge people not to take them away or vandalise them. It really could lead to someone losing their life.”
According to the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) UK, the Drowning Prevention Charity, this isn’t an isolated incident. The organisation says life buoys are frequently vandalised, putting lives at risk and costing between £30 and £300 to replace per unit.
Adrian Lole, technical director for RLSS UK, said: “This is not an uncommon problem. Where a member of the public is at risk of drowning, often there is little time to make a difference and seconds count. A drop buoyancy aid, positioned correctly at a high-risk site, can save lives.
“With life rings or perry buoys, the low cost, ease of installation and highvisible presence can give a false impression that water safety is managed.
“Installations such as these require the landowner to consider the issue of regular inspection and replacement, as obviously if someone has decided that the risk is significant enough to require public rescue equipment, when equipment is stolen or lost, the risk remains.
“The public are right to be concerned if these units are not returned to good order in a time-efficient manner.
“Some landowners are forced to consider alternate options, like revise the risk assessment, reduce buoys to key points, or consider other options such as installing more barriers to restrict access, adapting the housing, or sending an alert if a buoy has been removed.
“It sounds as though the landowner needs to undertake an urgent review of the drowning risk and effectiveness of the current control measures.”