An of era as Liverpool coastguard station closes

Liverpool Coastguard station closes today with its operations moving to Holyhead..

It comes after a lengthy campaign to keep the site in Crosby open.

Opponents say that the failure to transfer staff means that vital local knowledge will be lost.

The site has been responsible for 4,500 miles of coastline for nearly 30 years and staff have had to deal with some of the country’s most serious maritime disasters.

There was the helicopter from Blackpool Airport that crashed into the water at night on its way out to a gas platform. Six bodies were eventually recovered from the sea.

The Hall Road building opened in 1982, although there was a significant £1m extension completed in 2001.

Liverpool Coastguard station also helped co-ordinate the response to the Morecambe Bay tragedy in February 2004 which claimed the life of 21 cockle pickers.

From today, if you phone 999 or put out a mayday signal off the Merseyside coast your call will be dealt with by a centre in Holyhead, North Wales, rather than the one at Crosby.