A MAN swimming across the Mersey for a £50 bet had to be rescued.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue’s Marine Rescue Unit was called at 2pm yesterday to save the man who had removed a lifesaver from Seacombe promenade before jumping in the water. The 29-year-old, who had been drinking in Wallasey, had bet his friends £50 he could swim across but got into difficulty when he was about 150 yards off the shore.
Alistair Knowles, team leader of the three-man crew who made the rescue said: “It’s a silly idea to try and swim in the Mersey and he not only could have caused injury to himself but he also took a life saver which could have been needed to save someone else’s life.”
Later, the service’s fast rescue vessel was mobilised to save a man hanging onto a submerged kayak off Egremont, Wirral.
The man, in his late 20s, was taken to shore and two other men were escorted as they swam back to shore.
