Lifeboat station for Severn estuary officially opens

The new lifeboat station will house three Severn Area Rescue Association boats

A new lifeboat station and rescue training centre for the Severn estuary has officially opened.

The £250,000 building at Beachley will hold three Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) vessels.

It will serve the Gloucester, Newport, Avonmouth, Cardiff and Chepstow areas of the river Severn, as well as the rivers Usk, Wye and Avon.

The centre will also house a new control room, a drying room for crew's storm-suits and other equipment.

Mervyn Fleming, chairman of SARA Beachley, said: "We currently have 10 UK-qualified instructors and teachers; the new classroom and conference facility has been long awaited."

Saturday's opening ceremony included the simultaneous cutting of ribbons by the mayors and lord mayors representing the towns and counties served by the station, in the presence of the Deputy High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.