§ MR. LUKE WHITE (Yorkshire, E.R., Buckrose)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, in view of the fact that a man was drowned at Bridlington within a few yards of the coastguard station, on the afternoon of the 21st July, and that at that time the station was locked up, whether he will give directions that the coastguard station at Bridlington be kept open in future.
(Answered by Mr. Arnold-Forster.) The coastguard station in question is kept open all day as far as is practicable, but it is occasionally necessary for the coastguard man on watch to be absent for short periods on other duties, such as that of boarding vessels that arrive in the harbour. This was the case on the occasion of the accident referred to. I ought to add that the immediate cause 665 of the fatality seems to have been the absence of any life-buoys along the seawall, and I am informed that since the accident occurred the local authorities have supplied this omission.