Plymouth waterside businesses offered throwlines

The throwlines, demonstrated here by a firefighter, consist of a floating bag and a rope

Businesses by a popular Plymouth waterside area are being offered a simple piece of lifesaving equipment to help anyone who ends up in the water.

Fifty throwlines are being offered to bars and restaurants in the Barbican.

The lines, comprising of a bag on a rope, are being given out by Devon and Somerset Sire and Rescue Service.

Firefighters said the advice was to never go into the water to try to save someone, but to call 999 and use a throwline if one is nearby.

Firefighters said the throwlines could be used to secure people in the water until rescuers arrived

Katie Miller works at a takeaway coffee business right on the edge of the marina which has taken one of the lines.

She said: "I've seen people jump over a barrier, going after a bit of rubbish, or a hat going over. They could go in and bang their head.

"It's always a good thing [to be prepared], just in case."

Steve Fisher, of the fire service, said: "If it's an inland water rescue, call 999 and ask for the fire service; we will perform a rescue.

"But, in that time for us to arrive, it means that potentially somebody could deploy a throwline and secure that casualty in the water and stop them floating away."

Emergency services also said people should take care on quaysides, harbours and river banks, especially if they had been drinking.