RESCUE SERVICES NEAR BRIDGE OVER JET SKI
SPECIALIST rescue teams were called into action after a man was seen drifting onboard a jet ski without a life jacket.
The search mission was focused on an area close to Runcorn Bridge as part of a joint effort between HM Coastguard Crosby and Wirral Coastguard Rescue.
The call-out was in response “to a report of a person drifting onboard a jet ski without a life jacket near to the Runcorn Bridge”.
However after crews hit the water it was established via ambulance and fire chiefs that the “casualty was now safe on shore” with another man.
But despite sparking an emergency call-out, just after 4pm on Wednesday, the two men told the would-be rescuers they intended to brave the conditions and retrieve the stranded jet ski which was on a mud bank.
They ditched this plan after stunned coastguard officials reminded the pair of the dangers of entering the river.
A spokesman for HM Coastguard Crosby, who released images of the emergency response and jet ski at the centre of the call-out, said: “The males informed the rescue team that they were going to try and retrieve the stranded craft off a mud bank.
“The team gave the two men safety advice and after a long discussion about the dangers of entering the river we offered to contact Liverpool Sailing Club to try and arrange the safe recovery of the jet ski.”
He added: “Liverpool Sailing Club agreed to assist with the recovery and with this the two men agreed to wait for the sailing club and the craft was secured till the next day when it was safe to be recovered by the experienced members of the Sailing Club.”
In a coastal emergency people are urged to always call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.