Two sea rescues 'due to alcohol'

Lifeboat crew rescued one man while waiting for the boat to return

Coastguards have warned mixing alcohol and the sea can have fatal consequences after two separate rescues in Dorset.

Poole lifeboat was called to Studland Bay at 2300 BST on Saturday after a drunk leisure fisherman was in the sea for an hour.

The man, suffering from hypothermia, had been pulled to safety by the skipper of a yacht who heard his cries.

A 20-year-old "very drunk" man was then pulled from Poole Quay by crew waiting for Poole Lifeboat to return.

Both men were taken to hospital.

I hope that the man, when he finally sobers up, will have the courage to thank those lifeboat officers who saved his life Allan Blake

Allan Blake, duty watch manager at Portland Coastguard, said: "Clearly in the later incident, if RNLI lifeboat crewmen had not been waiting for their colleagues then there is no doubt that this man would have just become a fatality statistic.

"Drinking and seawater just don't mix and the coldwater shock to the system can also bring on hypothermia very quickly.

"I hope that the man, when he finally sobers up, will have the courage to thank those lifeboat officers who saved his life.

"As we saw earlier, alcohol can affect balance and capability, and the leisure fisherman who ended up in the water in Studland Bay will have had the shock of his life to have spent nearly up to an hour wondering if anyone was going to hear his calls.

"Fortunately they were and we'd like to thank the yacht owner for alerting us and coming to his assistance."