Bid to stop Holy Island causeway madness
Jun 13 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal
A WALL OF shame displaying pictures of foolish drivers who have become stranded on the Holy Island causeway at Lindisfarne is to be installed on the site.
Northumberland County Council has come up with the idea in an attempt to reduce the number of call-outs the emergency services receive from those who have got stuck halfway across.
Signs will be installed at the site which, as well as displaying safe crossing times, will also contain images of those who have had to be rescued.
The hard-hitting move comes after staff at RAF Boulmer and Seahouses lifeboat station both said they have become sick of having to rescue people who are trapped.
Ian Clayton, lifeboat operations manager for Seahouses RNLI, said: “It is such a waste of time and resources when we are called out to deal with these people.
“Many of the incidents are down to ignorance and stupidity. Some people seem to think they are crossing a small river or a ford or something rather than driving straight into the North Sea.
“Obviously we would support any initiative which promotes water safety.
“I would really like to think that these new initiatives by the county council may help reduce these incidents, but the experience of recent years tends to make me a little sceptical. We are called out on a very regular basis and it is just simple. People should not be attempting to cross when it is not safe to do so.”
Flt Lt Charlie Logan, a pilot at RAF Boulmer, said: “Anything we can do to help raise awareness of misjudging the tide times is a good thing. People need to see at first hand how dangerous it can be.”
As part of the measures to increase safety extra turning circles will be built on the causeway to enable drivers to turn around if they realise they won’t make it to dry land.
A county council spokeswoman said: “We continue to develop new ways in which to drive home to Holy Island visitors the very serious safety message.
“At our request RAF Boulmer and Seahouses RNLI have provided photographs of some of the rescues from the causeway. We will be incorporating these into a photo montage to create a harder hitting visual impact with new displays at the tide tables, as part of a wider package of measures we are exploring.”
