Eastbourne lifeboat and helicopter search for ‘group of people at sea’

The lifeboat crew were called out on Saturday (June 24) by ‘concerned’ witnesses who said they saw ‘a number of people’ enter the water at the Sovereign Harbour entrance and not return to land.

Eastbourne RNLI said they were joined by two local coastguard teams, the police and a coastguard search and rescue helicopter.

An Eastbourne RNLI spokesperson said, “After an exhaustive scan from Langney Point to Norman’s Bay using thermal imaging equipment, and established search techniques, nothing was found and the combined operation was finally called off after several hours.”

The spokesperson said there has not been subsequent reports of missing people since.

The lifeboat crew volunteers returned home that evening but were again paged before midnight, the RNLI said, to assist police and coastguard teams on the beach near the Wish Tower.

However, the launch was cancelled, the spokesperson said, after a person was apprehended under the pier.

According to Eastbourne RNLI, so far this year its two lifeboats have launched a total of 55 times – the inshore lifeboat 35 times and the all-weather lifeboat 20 times.

Eighteen of these callouts were during lockdown.

For more information, visit www.eastbournernli.org

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