Portland Coastguard helicopter to be axed

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has announced that search and rescue operations will end on Portland by 2017.

The cost-cutting plans will see national search and rescue operations handed over from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to civilian crews.

Around 20 jobs will be lost from the Portland operation and a helicopter will be dispatched from Lee-on-Solent to handle emergencies in this area.

The announcement follows the cancellation of a previous search and rescue helicopter procurement in February.

A new contract will be awarded by the government in early 2013.

Divers who were plucked to safety by the helicopter at the weekend said they wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for a local search and rescue team.

Divers Paul Taylor and Mark Carroll were caught in a fast-moving tide and were found by the Portland search and rescue team about one and a half miles south west of Portland Bill.

The pair, from Bexley, Kent, had spent around 45 minutes in water in ferocious weather conditions.

Paul, 41, said: “If the helicopter had to come from elsewhere instead of Portland there would have been a different outcome.

“The waves and currents were so strong – we were lucky that the helicopter was local. We were told the helicopter was going to turn around but the local knowledge of the pilot helped it to go a bit further and find us.

“I dread to think what the outcome would have been if it wasn’t for the helicopter being local.”

Mark, who is Paul’s brother-in-law, said: “We’ve done nearly 200 dives between us and we’re used to UK water. But we were in the Portland Race, which is treacherous and waves the size of a two storey building were hitting us.”

Paul and Mark, who are both members of Bexley Sub Aqua Club, praised the rescue crew for the speedy response.

Mark, 44, said: “The local helicopter is vital. It was so reassuring seeing it doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

“We’d like to say a massive thank-you to the crew who rescued us. We cannot praise them enough.

“They were fantastic. Paul is going to write to David Cameron and say that two lives have been saved because of this helicopter. You can’t put a price on a life.”

MPs fight to overturn double blow

SOUTH Dorset MP Richard Drax said it was a ‘double blow’ to lose both the rescue operations centre and the helicopter from Weymouth and Portland.

He said: “I am extremely disappointed, to put it mildly.

“I would argue that we need a helicopter here, I don’t believe Lee-on-Solent will be able to cover this stretch sufficiently.

“My intention is to counter this as much as I’m able to and fight to retain the helicopter because I believe passionately that we should have one.”

Mr Drax said he would go on ‘a fact-finding mission’ to find out what the figures of the situation are and then present a case to the government.

He added: “I can’t see how we can retain a proper coverage without the helicopter. This part of the coast is one of the busiest in the country and 17 to 20 minutes flying time means someone’s going to die. I’m hopeful that a case can be built to prove that.”

Labour peer Lord Jim Knight, who as South Dorset MP joined a campaign to save the helicopter in 2002, called on Mr Drax to act.

He said: “This is appalling news for the local area. The person who has to deliver on this is Richard.

“He needs to demonstrate and take on the concerns of his constituency to the government.”

Lord Knight said the helicopter was a vital part of the economy.

“We’re hosting the Olympics and that’s the best possible demonstration of sailing, there is a huge diving industry and we all know the importance of the beach and the seaside to our economy.