AN URGENT meeting is to be held after a lifeboat volunteer lashed out at “selfish motorists” who obstruct a crucial passageway used by crews when answering an emergency.

New Brighton lifeboat operation manager Cliff Downing took these pictures of cars parked both on and around the roundabout over the weekend.

The fast response crew has to negotiate the roundabout outside the Floral Pavilion theatre to reach the launch site for the lifeboat.

Mr Downing said: “It’s not acceptable in any way, shape or form. We have to go around that roundabout with a lifeboat on the back in order to launch at New Brighton pier.

“If there had been an incident, we could not have got the lifeboat through because of all the illegally parked cars.

“This is not the first time this has happened. When I went down there, I saw one or two people I knew getting in and out of their cars and asked them if they would shift their vehicle, but as soon as they did another took its place.

“The problem is not being caused by blue badge holders who have their designated spaces, it is cars causing an obstruction by parking on the roundabout itself.”

The lifeboat station is located in Kings Parade, around 800 yards away from the launch site.

Mr Downing added: “The problem is that with all the development going on here, we’ve lost between 200 and 300 car parking spaces.

“The summer months are our busiest time of year, and ironically it is the same people who cause an obstruction with their cars who could be needing our services if they become stranded in their boat or cut off by the tide.

“New Brighton is a fast response station, which means we need to launch quickly, as opposed to stations where they have a longer launch time.”