Portishead lifeboat: New station plans get go-ahead

The new building will house the inshore lifeboat, launching tractor and crew facilities

Plans to build a new lifeboat station in North Somerset have been given the go-ahead by the council.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) wants to create the new purpose-built centre on the site of a former Masonic lodge in Portishead.

The building will house an inshore lifeboat and provide facilities for Portishead Lifeboat Trust's volunteer crew, which the RNLI plans to "adopt".

It is hoped the new station will become operational in summer 2014.

Colin Williams, from the RNLI, said building work would start in the autumn following a fundraising drive over the summer.

"The trustees of the RNLI have agreed, in principle, to pursue the adoption of the Portishead and Bristol lifeboat from the Portishead Lifeboat Trust."

But Mr Williams said this would only happen when a "suitable operations site has been constructed and the requisite shore facilities built".