Drunk teenagers make beach rescues 'intimidating'
Tynemouth Coastguard Life BrigadeVolunteer life brigades had a busy bank holiday weekend responding to a number of calls, some involving large groups of drunk teenagers at beaches.
Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (TVLB) said it had three separate callouts to Longsands beach, North Tyneside, with intoxicated 15-year-olds needing medical attention.
South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade had an "extremely busy" weekend with 12 callouts, two of which involved teenagers needing to be taken to hospital for drink-related ailments.
Capt Peter Lilley from TVLB said the volunteers did "amazing" work in extremely hot conditions which were "at times rather intimidating".
The brigade said that, while on the way to help a 52-year-old man who had broken both ankles when jumping 20ft (6m) from the old swimming pool on to the beach below, they were directed towards a drunk teenager.
Team members found a "heavily intoxicated" 15-year-old near the former boardwalk area of Longsands and contacted his grandparents who picked him up.
Tynemouth Volunteer Life BrigadeLilley said the atmosphere in the area changed at about 17:00 BST with large groups of teenagers who were drinking in the area being "difficult" with the volunteers.
"It got a bit unpleasant and when we are going into that environment we are not really used to it," he said.
"Underage drinking is not a new thing but it was having consequences yesterday.
"We are volunteers and it was intimidating at times. We have to think about our own safety too."
Life brigade volunteers in South Shields said they had received 12 calls in three hours, which included lost children, drunk teenagers, someone with sunstroke, and a person having a seizure.
A brigade spokesperson said, at one point, volunteers were dealing with three incidents simultaneously.
RNLI Cullercoats volunteers received verbal abuse over the weekend while responding to incidents, with some people refusing to move vehicles blocking access to the lifeboat station.
