Dog over cliff edge prompts Lyme Regis lifeboat launch

The lifeboat launched at 12:14pm and was quickly on scene despite a choppy sea and strong southerly breeze. Its crew soon spotted the dog, a Cockerpoo named Maisie, trapped on a ledge approximately 6 metres below the clifftop. From their position a hundred metres offshore, the crew were the able to guide members of Lyme Regis and Beer Coastguard Rescue Teams to the animal’s exact location.

It was not possible for the dog to be rescued by lifeboat, so the Coastguard used specialist cliff rescue techniques to recover Maisie to the clifftop where she was reunited with her grateful owner.

Volunteer lifeboat Helm Seb Cope said: ‘This was another example of how we work closely with our friends in HM Coastguard. We located the dog on the cliff face in a position not fully visible to the Coastguards on the cliff top. We then stood by, acting as a communications relay, while Coastguard specialists made a successful rope recovery.’

Once Maisie and her rescuer had reached the safety of the clifftop the lifeboat crew was stood down. They returned to Lyme Regis at 1:21pm where their Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of Loch Fyne was refuelled and washed down by volunteer shore crew in preparation for its next service call. This was the 29th shout for the Lyme Regis RNLI crew this year.

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Notes to editors

Photo captions:

1. Lyme Regis RNLI volunteers locate the dog on the cliff face. Credit: RNLI/Nick Marks.

1. Coastguard cliff rescue specialist approaches the dog from the cliff top. Credit: Seb Cope.

RNLI media contacts

For more information, please contact Nick Marks, volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer at Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station on 07568 187582 or [email protected]. or Emma Haines, Regional Communications Manager, on 07786 668847 or [email protected], or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.