Coastguards and lifeguards brace themselves for another busy day

Lucky to be alive - Kelly Cummings, 38, and her five-year-old son Zayn. RNLI lifeguards and the Coastguard are appealing for visitors to be extra vigilant and to watch out for orange flag warnings.

On Friday, across Lincolnshire, lifeguards have dealt with 16 rescues, numerous major first aids; one of which involving the coastguard helicopter, endless missing children and several lifeboat launches.

Yesterday (Saturday) at Skegness there were four call-outs and a total of nine missing children, who were all found safe and well and reunited with their families.

This follows a busy start to the summer holidays, including the rescue of a Peterborough mum and her five-year-old son who were swept out to sea on an inflatable.

This incident took place on Sunday, July 26, and the mum, Kelly Cummings and her son, Zayn, were rescued by lifeguards Lois Kemp, 20, and Charlie Spencer, 22, aided by members of the public.

The spike in incidents has prompted an appeal by RNLI lifeguard supervisor Arun Gray. He said: "Last Friday was our busiest day of the year so far which included 16 rescues, three major first aids and numerous missing children.

"Ourselves and the lifeboats have also been tasked to several inflatables since lockdown was eased.

"All we ask is for people to keep an eye out for the orange “no inflatables” wind sock and avoid using them if the wind is blowing offshore.

"We also don’t have lifeguards at Ingoldmells this year due to the pandemic so we would advise anyone who wants to go to the beach to head to either Skegness or Mablethorpe."