The Swanage Coastguard IRT team were called to Studland Sea School at 19:00 this evening to a two person kayak that was two hours overdue. The Coastguard Operations room were concerned for the safety of the people who had hired the kayak.
A full HMCoastguard search of the beaches was undertaken while the Swanage Lifeboat launched to undertake a sea search. Meanwhile Dorset Police investigated the hirers contact details to find these were false. After a two hour search, and in light of the details to hand the teams were stood down on the basis that the kayak had probably been stolen by a person using the pseudo name 'Chris Ashton'.
The Studland Sea School are now sadly out of pocket, although the owners can be satisfied that their clear emergency procedures worked well this evening. We were very impressed with the safety and professionalism showed by the school.
Sadly the couple who stole the craft put emergency workers at risk and wasted considerable Coastguard, RNLI and Police time. The CCTV images at the Sea School have been passed to Dorset Police - the kayak was also security marked.
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| STOLEN: Perception Scooter Gemini 2 Seater Sit on Top Kayak. |
If you can assist Dorset Police please call them on the non-emergency number 101 or contact Crimestoppers.
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