Nearly £8k of taxpayers' money spent training firefighters to crew lifeboat in Jersey

Nearly £8,000 of taxpayers' money has been spent training Jersey firefighters to man the inshore lifeboat.

Temporary cover has been in place since the RNLI closed the St Helier station and removed the All Weather lifeboat in November.

The charity are now training new volunteers to operate the George Sullivan which was returned to Jersey in December.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that £7,808 has been spent to train nine fire officers to crew the inshore lifeboat.

The RNLI are not required to pay for the costs of training because Jersey's Fire and Rescue Service are legally bound to utilize firefighters for 'locating or rescuing people and protecting them from serious harm in the event of any incident occurring within three nautical miles of the coasts of Jersey.’