Rescue: 14 June 2008, Ref: Staithes 007 2008
Search for Missing School Children

Staithes RNLI lifeboat launched at 12:50pm on Saturday morning to search for a party of three adults and 24 school children who were late returning from a walk along the coast.

The volunteer lifeboat crew were holding an open day at the boathouse to celebrate 30 years since the station re-opened when a man informed them that the party had not arrived at Port Mulgrave as expected. The group had said that they were intending to walk from Staithes to Port Mulgrave along the fore shore, setting off at 10am and planning to arrive at noon.

The fire brigade, police and paramedics treated and evacuated the person to hospital while the lifeboats acted as a communications link between Humber Coastguard and the local, on-scene, Coastguards.

The lifeboat searched close inshore but did not see any one along the stretch of coastline and set off back to Staithes. They then spotted a large group of people on one of the cliff top paths. Mobile coastguards from Staithes and Skiningrove were sent to meet the people and it was confirmed that they were the missing party and all was well.

It appears that the group decided not to walk along the shore to Port Mulgrave but instead went along the cliff path which is part of the Cleveland Way. We believe they were late arriving at Port Mulgrave because they stopped to help an injured walker who was taken by air ambulance to hospital.

— Lee Jackson, press officer with Staithes lifeboat

The lifeboat returned to Staithes at 1:30pm.

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