By Phil Coleman

Last updated at 11:58, Wednesday, 07 December 2011

A major rescue operation was launched at Whitehaven Harbour this morning as gale-force winds and heavy rain battered the county.

The incident scene

A RNLI lifeboat crew from Workington joined the Whitehaven Coastguard in their efforts to evacuate an injured crewman from a trawler which was pinned to the harbour’s wall by 65mph winds and rough seas.

The man had suffered serious facial injuries while on board the trawler.

A spokesman for Liverpool Coastguard said that paramedics and firefighters were on standby at the harbour as the fight to rescue the man from the boat continued into the morning.

The operation was made particularly difficult by the strong winds and a 10ft swell which prevented the man being lifted directly on to pier, said the official.

He said that the RNLI lifeboat hoped to attach a line to the boat so that it could be steered away from the inner harbour wall and then escorted into the harbour where the rescue could take place.

The Coastguard spokesman added: “The injured man on the boat is in not too good a way, but there’s no way they can get him off the boat in the inner harbour as the boat is pinned against the wall by the strong winds, with the water rising and falling by about 10ft.”

The man’s injuries, which are thought to have been caused by a mooring line, are not life-threatening.

The boat at the centre of the incident is from Scotland.

A spokesman for the Met Office in London said gale-force gusts of up to 65mph were experienced across the county this morning, along with heavy showers.

The wind and rain are expected to ease this afternoon before returning tomorrow for yet another wet and windy day.

First published at 11:34, Wednesday, 07 December 2011
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk