Broken phone delays rescue

Ivan Fisher was found unconscious underwater

A father who drowned as he went into the sea to rescue his son and a friend may have died because an emergency telephone at the beach was faulty or vandalised.

Ivan Fisher, 43, from Stalham in Norfolk, died trying to rescue his 12-year-old son, Joshua and a friend, 13.

They got into difficulties while shrimping by sea defence reefs at Sea Palling on Saturday.

The two boys were rescued by kayakers and taken to shore.

They were shocked and cold but unhurt.

But a man who was at the beach said attempts to use the emergency telephone to call coastguards led to a 15-minute delay because the operator could not hear the callers.

People then had to go to a nearby cafe to dial 999, it was reported.

When rescuers arrived they found farm worker Mr Fisher unconscious under the surface of the water.

He died despite efforts to revive him by lifeboat crew members and a paramedic in a rescue helicopter flying him to hospital.

Phone checked

A spokesman for North Norfolk District Council that maintains the emergency telephone at the beach said the telephone had been checked on Friday.

He said on Monday: "What happened between then and Saturday we don't know.

I believe there was a report that the phone was broken Coastguard watch manager Roland McKie

"We will check the phone thoroughly today to see what the problem is."

It was not known whether the problem was caused by vandals or a technical hitch.

Roland McKie, a watch manager at Yarmouth Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "I believe there was a report that the phone was broken.

"The council does its best to keep them maintained, but vandalism is a problem."

He said that life-saving equipment was often stolen, thrown away or broken.