Rescue mission launched after cliff crash report

A FULL scale rescue mission was launched on Saturday afternoon after reports of a severely crashed vehicle at the foot of cliffs near the Mull of Galloway.

Stranraer RNLI Lifeboat was contacted by UK Coastguard at 1.26 pm amid concerns for the welfare of any occupants. A crew launched, along with one from Portpatrick, and sped to the scene, where police were conducting enquiries ashore. It soon transpired the vehicle had been at the location for some time and there were no persons in distress or danger.

Commenting on the callout, lifeboat operations manager Antony Simpson said: “Every launch is treated as a genuine emergency until we’re able to establish otherwise.

While this incident thankfully had a positive outcome, the initial information suggested there could have been people in immediate danger, so our volunteer crew responded without hesitation.

“We’d like to thank HM Coastguard, our colleagues at Portpatrick RNLI and Police Scotland for their excellent teamwork throughout the incident. “We’d also like to thank our volunteer crew members for once again leaving their families and workplaces at a moment’s notice to answer the call.”