Clacton-on-Sea's RNLI loses five volunteers in one month

The loss of volunteers at an Essex lifeboat station has left it facing "the worst situation in the country", a serving crewman has claimed.

Clacton-on-Sea's Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has had five volunteers resign since November.

The crewman added: "It is still operational, but it's on a wing and a prayer."

A RNLI spokeswoman said that despite the number of crew members falling, the service remained fully operational.

One crewman, who spoke anonymously to the BBC, said: "We haven't replaced the people who have resigned and we aren't going to replace these people quickly, despite what is said.

"We're not in a good place, to be honest. I'm gutted - [it has] completely decimated our station."

The resignations followed tensions between some members of the crew and the charity's senior leaders.

Yet the crewman added that the loss of volunteers in Clacton was "the worst in the country".

"[The station] is absolutely on the floor," he said.

One former volunteer - who recently resigned from the charity - said that more than 200 years of staffing experience had been lost over the past month.

"I'm gutted as I'd still like to go and save lives at sea, I'm still passionate about it," he said.

The RNLI spokeswoman said that despite the number of both sea-going crew and those who launch the boats from the shore falling to 21, the service was fully operational.

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