Fears for public safety as Forth coastguard is axed

FRESH fears have been raised that public safety will be put at risk around the region's coastline after it was confirmed that the Forth coastguard will be axed.

The Forth coastguard, which has its main base in Fife, was among those which failed to win a reprieve from Transport Secretary Philip Hammond as he revealed the government was backing down on plans to close all about two of the UK's stations.

Following a consultation, the government said round-the-clock operations would be maintained at Aberdeen, Shetland and Stornoway.

However, the Forth and Clyde bases are set to close at some point between 2012 and 2015.

Mr Hammond said the changes were designed to deliver a "resilient coastguard service, fit for the 21st century", but opposition MPs accused him of risking public safety.

Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz said: "I am very concerned about these closures. The minister said there would be new network arrangements put in place, but there's going to be a huge gap with no coastguard between Aberdeen and the Humber.

"It just isn't possible for that kind of local knowledge to be maintained with such a limited numbers of stations."

Mr Hammond told the Commons there would be one operations centre in the Southampton and Portsmouth area, as well as eight sub-stations, operated 24 hours a day, at Falmouth, Milford Haven, Holyhead, Belfast, Stornoway, Shetland, Aberdeen and Humber.

But the stations at Clyde, Forth, Liverpool, Yarmouth, Brixham, Thames and Swansea would all close.

There would be job losses, Mr Hammond said, with the number of uniformed coastguards falling from 573 to 436 by 2014-15. He added: "This has been a genuine consultation that has seen a high level of engagement.

"It is clear from the responses that there is huge public and political admiration for the work of our coastguard, a clear consensus that change and modernisation is necessary, but also some specific concerns about the original proposals."

Gordon Downard, local representative for the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, said: "I'm upset that Forth Coastguard is likely to be among the first stations to close. We need to study the proposals in detail, but we remain opposed to anything which will jeopardise the public."

The Scottish Government's rural affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead, said: "I am disappointed to hear plans to close Forth and Clyde stations remain given the importance of our maritime industry and we will be closely examining these proposals and responding to the new consultation in due course. "Scotland has around sixty per cent of the UK's seas and there is ever-increasing activity from our traditional fishing industry to our fast growing marine renewables industry."