TEENAGERS are putting their lives at risk by rowing inflatable dinghies on the River Dee.
Flint RNLI has been called out to two incidents involving youngsters in trouble with the flimsy boats in the last month alone.
Alan Forrester, Flint volunteer lifeboat operations manager, has now raised his fears with the summer holidays approaching and is urging people not to use inflatable dinghies on the river.
The Flint RNLI lifeboat was launched around 3pm on Sunday afternoon after a call from a member of the public who had seen five people in difficulty in a yellow and blue inflatable dinghy near Hawarden Rail Bridge.
After finding a deflated orange dinghy the volunteer RNLI crew spotted five wet teenagers carrying paddles along the riverbank.
The teens had been out in the two dinghies before one of them deflated, but had all made it safely ashore.
Two of the teenagers were the same people rescued by the crew on April 18 when they had again had problems with an inflatable dinghy deflating.
On that occasion they were trapped on an old jetty near Shotton Steelworks because their boat had been washed away.
Mr Forrester is urging people not to use inflatable dinghies on the River Dee.
“Youngsters don’t see the dangers but it is a very dangerous river with a lot of obstructions such as submerged boats near the steelworks,” he said.
“There’s a lot of undercurrents, it’s not a safe place.”
“These boats shouldn’t be launched in tidal conditions, they’re for swimming pools not rivers that go out to sea. A strong wind can easily catch it and people fall out the boat.”
He said the coastal path near Connah’s Quay looked appealing to people as a place to launch boats from, but was not safe.
“It’s quite a sandy area but people need to be aware that it is a tidal river,” he said.
“I would advise people just to have a walk along the river, it is a beautiful area but not the place to take inflatable boats.”
- Flint RNLI is on the lookout for new volunteers. If you are interested and aged between 17 and 40 contact Alan Forrester on 07785593247.