Dorset Council has issued an apology to lifeboat volunteers who received parking fines whilst on an emergency call-out.

Four volunteers from Weymouth Lifeboat were issued parking tickets whilst dealing with an emergency at sea over the weekend.

The lifesavers rushed off to help stricken paddleboarders who had got into difficulty in Weymouth Bay.

They were parked on side streets off of Cove Row on the south harbourside.

Dorset Echo: Permits displayed and fines issuedPermits displayed and fines issued (Image: Supplied)

All of the crew members' vehicles displayed the correct permits which the RNLI have to pay for.

Dorset Council has since revoked the tickets and apologised for ‘any distress or confusion caused.’

A spokesman for the authority said the parking warden made an 'unfortunate error'. 

The fines were issued on Sunday, April 7, as both Weymouth RNLI lifeboats were called out to two separate incidents involving paddleboarders at around 4.15pm.

Dorset Echo: Permits displayed in one of the windowsPermits displayed in one of the windows (Image: Supplied)

A spokesperson for Weymouth Lifeboat said: “Four vehicles owned by lifeboat volunteers who were responding to the incidents were mistakenly issued with parking tickets.

“All the vehicles were displaying the correct permits and lifeboat crew stickers that are required to park in the area.

“We are pleased to say that Dorset Council has cancelled the tickets and has apologised for their error. We are grateful for their understanding and cooperation on this matter.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: “We are sorry for any distress or confusion this has caused.

“This was an unfortunate error, and we cancelled the tickets as soon as the mistake was brought to our attention.

“We have contacted the RNLI this morning to apologise and will remind our team about the agreement with the RNLI, so this does not happen again.”

In a post shared to Facebook regarding the incident, the lifeboat crew were met with plenty of support from people ‘disgusted’ by what had happened with others offering to help ‘crowdfund’ if the tickets were not revoked.

The call-out saw Weymouth Lifeboat crew as well as coastguard crews firstly called to a paddle-boarder in difficulty in Weymouth Bay

The Weymouth Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) crew located the paddleboarder safe and well but were immediately called to two further paddleboarders in difficulty near Overcombe.

Both the Inshore lifeboat and the All-Weather Lifeboat (ALB) were called out to help with locating the two additional paddle-boarders.

Local water sport enthusiasts confirmed to the crews that the paddle-boarders had safely made it back to shore.