Busy weekend for RNLI as new station opens

RNLI volunteer Matt McNally says the crew is delighted with the new station

Cleethorpes' new RNLI lifeboat station has opened and crews have already been busy.

Plans for a new station were announced four years ago but there were delays after the original builder went bust.

The station now has two lifeboats, which were moved from the previous station, on Friday.

During the first weekend in the new station, crews responded to three call-outs.

The new station includes improved changing facilities for volunteers

The crew was first called out to a broken down motor cruiser, which they towed to Grimsby.

They then responded to a small boat, which had capsized near Humberston.

The final call-out was to a yacht struggling to reach its mooring at the Humber Mouth Yacht Club.

Volunteer Matt McNally told BBC Radio Humberside: "Three call-outs on the first weekend is pretty busy but it was a good shakedown and test of how we operate in this new station".

The station has a D Class boat, used for inshore rescues, and a larger Atlantic 85 boat which extends the crew's range and capability.

Mr McNally said: "All of the crew are over the moon to finally be in and to be using this fantastic building. We've watched it being built for so long. We have a building that's fantastic for our resort and that's also fantastic for our life-saving service."

He said the new station would ensure crew could "respond better, safer and quicker".

Cleethorpes RNLI's Atlantic 85 stands ready alongside the smaller D Class rescue boat

Not only do they now have a second lifeboat, the 20-strong crew also have larger changing rooms.

The old station, just over the road from the new facility, was so cramped that crew occasionally had to get changed in the street.

Plans for the station were announced 2021 but construction was delayed in 2023 when the original contractor Tolent PLC went into administration and the RNLI appointed a replacement, Wynne Construction.

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