Lytham Coastguards' Facebook page has been closed, Fleetwood looks set to follow

Coastguard teams based in Fleetwood and Lytham have announced they are closing down their Facebook pages.
The Coastguards at BlackpoolThe Coastguards at Blackpool
The Coastguards at Blackpool

The surprise announcements have saddened the thousands of followers in Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde who like to read about the teams’ latest lifesaving endeavours.

The Fleetwood branch alone had some 9,000 followers on Facebook who have avidly read about the team’s work in what has been one of its busiest years, with some 300 jobs in 2021.

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A post uploaded on the Fleetwood Coastguard Facebook page on Wednesday stated: “After much consideration between the admins, we are sad to announce that, with regret, our Facebook page will no longer be able to bring you details and content of incidents and features that we have previously posted. This is due to factors out of our control.

“We would like to say a big thank you to our 9k plus followers for your support, comments and kindness over the years and especially in this, our busiest year yet, with nearly three hundred incidents attended so far by the volunteers of HM Coastguard Fleetwood during 2021.

“Let us reassure you that HM Coastguard Fleetwood, along with our flank teams and our 999 Emergency colleagues, will continue to help our community, both at sea and along the Fylde Coast beaches 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year come rain or shine.”

Mark Sumner, of Fleetwood Coastguards, said: “We can’t go into detail why, except to say we have to be increasingly careful on what we report, but this will not affect our service.”

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Safety advice will continue to be published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Tonight the Lytham Coastguard Facebook page was no longer available, while the Fleetwood site was still up, although Wednesday's post had been removed.