Brown reveals fears over coastguard cuts

Published on 02/11/2012 00:00

CUTS to coastguard stations could put people’s lives at risk, transport minister Keith Brown has warned his UK counterpart.

Mr Brown met with recently appointed UK transport minister Stephen Hammond in London to repeat concerns about the coastguard modernisation programme which will see two Scottish stations closed.

The Forth station closed in September and Clyde Coastguard is due to be shut in the next fortnight.

Scotland also stands to lose one emergency towing vessel, although stations at Shetland, Stornoway and Aberdeen are being retained.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Brown said: “We may now be dealing with a new minister, but the hard facts of this are that we are losing critical local knowledge and expertise and the UK government is potentially putting lives on the line.”