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Protest against St Abbs Lifeboat Station closure

Nearly 300 people took part in a protest against the closure of St Abbs Lifeboat Station. RNLI are to close it later this year, following a review.

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Date set for lifeboat station closure

The controversial closure plan has attracted widespread local criticism Credit: ITV Border

A Scottish Borders lifeboat station will close in September.

The RNLI today announced that the station in St Abbs, which has been in existence for more than a hundred years, will shut on the eighth of September despite a local campaign to keep it open. The RNLI says its station at Eyemouth, two miles away, can cover the area effectively with the addition of a new inshore lifeboat.

Campaign against St Abbs lifeboat closure

Nearly three hundred people have taken part in a protest against the planned closure of the Lifeboat Station in St Abbs. The RNLI wants to shut the station at the end of this summer, after reviewing the use of its services over the last decade. But the village community say they won't give it up without a fight. Jenny Longden reports

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Lifeboat station is 'heart of St Abbs'

Nearly 300 people took part in the protest walk Credit: ITV Border

Local people took to the streets of St Abbs to demonstrate against the closure of their lifeboat station.

14 crew members and other volunteers at the station are from the local area.

Those taking part in the protest said the station is the heart of the community.

Credit: ITV Border

The RNLI said:

The difficult decision to close St Abbs lifeboat station was taken over five years and based, amongst other things, on data going back further than ten years. The RNLI acknowledges the strength of feeling that there is within the community and this is demonstrated by the walk

– RNLI Spokesman
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