Coastguards' Herne Bay mud bath will help save lives

VISITORS found themselves up to their knees in mud in Herne Bay harbour, but all for a very good cause.

A team of instructors endured a mudbath to learn new ways of helping people trapped in treacherous conditions on the coast.

Mud slide: Two of the trainees make their way across the mud HBBG090310coastguard-5
Taking care: It took time to find the best route across the harbour HBBG090310coastguard-7
Knee-deep: Trainees found themselves in the mud during the rescue course HBBG090310coastguard-1

Maritime and Coastal Agency sector manager Colin Ingram said: "We tested new equipment and the Maritime and Coastal Agency's training college trained 22 sector managers in new mud rescue techniques.

"We had people from across the UK including Scotland, Wales and the south west. and they are all going back to train their teams so that all the new techniques are standardised nationwide."

And the teams had nothing to worry about if any of them got into difficulties while they were learning.

Mr Ingram added: "There were actually two Herne Bay mud rescue teams watching over proceedings in case anyone got into trouble. They would have been using the old techniques but they were there because they know the harbour really well."

The harbour was chosen because it has ideal conditions for crews to learn every aspect of the vital lessons.

He added: "It has easy access and there's hard and soft mud so we could practice all the techniques in a safe environment. I'll be using the harbour soon to pass on the training to my three local teams.

"It was more beneficial than enjoyable but everything went smoothly so it was very worthwhile."