'Legacy lifeboat' still unused due to berth woes

The George and Frances Phelon, standing at a marina near Lowestoft, has never been used on a rescue mission despite being unveiled more than two years ago

The RNLI's first "Legacy Lifeboat" has been left languishing in a marina eight months after its delivery because berth facilities for it are not up to scratch, a former coxswain has said.

The "George and Frances Phelon" - a Shannon-class vessel at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat station, was named after a couple who bequeathed £3m to the charity.

It was delivered to the Norfolk station in September 2023, but the RNLI said the delay to entering service was caused by the need to upgrade mooring facilities in the area.

Former coxswain Paddy Lee, who served with the local lifeboat for 39 years, said the crew had been "given the carrot and it's been taken away from them".

The Phelons, who lived in Bradford, West Yorkshire, left £3m to the lifeboat charity but had not stipulated where their legacy should be spent.

The vessel was dedicated to them in a naming ceremony in Poole, Dorset in April 2022.

It was stored at RNLI headquarters for 18 months before its delivery to the East coast last September.

George and Frances Phelon's nephew Simon Lush said the couple would be disappointed the lifeboat named in their honour had never been used on a rescue mission

Simon Lush, a nephew of the Phelons, told the BBC his late uncle would have been disappointed the lifeboat was not available to save lives at sea.

"It is being left, mothballed I believe, until they can get the facilities sorted so they can bring the boat into operation," he said.

"You have to beg the question why it went up there. You really do wonder if the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

"They had two years to get the facilities in order and that's what I want to get to the bottom of, as to why it has taken so long to get those facilities made good for that boat to become operational from Great Yarmouth."

Simon Lush, who lives in Hampshire, says his late aunt and uncle would have wanted the vessel to be "put into action"

'Too dangerous'

Mr Lee said the Norfolk crew had been left "upset and demotivated" by the situation.

"It's unbelievable. I know how dedicated that bunch of guys and girls are, I feel so sorry for the way they've been treated by the Institution," he said.

"They've been given the carrot and it's been taken away from them."

He added: "What's it doing? It's a lifeboat sat there not doing lifesaving work. £2.5m. It's disgusting; absolutely disgraceful.

"How would you feel putting £2.5m down for a lifeboat to be in service at a station that is never going to be for the foreseeable future.

"They didn't listen many years ago to the crew and the former lifeboat operations manager, that the berth is too dangerous."

Former coxswain and mechanic Paddy Lee said the RNLI had wasted the time of crew who trained to use the lifeboat

Mr Lee claimed the lifeboat was held in Dorset for 18 months after its naming ceremony because of safety issues with mooring.

"When you get a south or south-easterly and the tide and the wind comes round the pier heads and creates the waves, then the boat is like it's at sea - and rocking around," he said.

"The only means of boarding the lifeboat is by a fixed drawbridge.

"As you can imagine a drawbridge coming down slowly onto a boat that's bucking around like a bronco, there's where your danger is, because it's unsafe."

Mr Lush said he had been told there were technical issues with the boat.

The BBC learned that the all-weather lifeboat mooring at Great Yarmouth has now been condemned and a minibus is used to transport crew to a temporary mooring further up river.

The George and Frances Phelon is the RNLI's first "Legacy Lifeboat" and contains thousands of names of benefactors in the identifying markers on the bow

The RNLI said in a statement that it had carried out work at Gorleston Lifeboat station and would continue to endeavour to get the lifeboat operational.

In a BBC interview in March, outgoing chief executive Mark Dowie said: "We're working with Peel Ports and some other local agencies to make sure the lifeboat can be housed safely and used effectively.

"That work has not been finalised as yet... when it is, the boat will go on service.

"It's quite a complex puzzle but we are working very closely with Peel Ports and other local agencies to make that happen."