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A man on a Stag Do in Bridlington refused to allow the crew of a lifeboat to help him from the water leaving them no other alternative than to call the police.

The man was part of a Stag party from Halifax as the man refused to get out of the water the RNLI lifeboat crew had no alternative but to return to shore to pick up a Police Officer to order the man to get onboard the lifeboat, this took about 30 minutes.

By this time the reveller was suffering from hypothermia and was taken to hospital.

At 9.50pm on Saturday night the Humber Coastguard received a 999 call from one of the stag party. The Bridlington Coastguard Rescue team and the Bridlington RNLI Inshore Lifeboat located the man who was under the influence of alcohol and asked him to come aboard, a coastguard spokesman said, “the man refused to be rescued and swam away from the lifeboat. A Police Officer was taken aboard the inshore lifeboat and after 30 minutes the man was recovered from the water”.

The man was then taken by ambulance to hospital suffering from suspected hypothermia.

The incident has renewed warnings from the Coastguard about swimming whilst under the influence of alcohol.

Alex Harrison from the Humber Coastguard said: “The Maritime and Coastguard Agency run a ‘don’t drink and drown’ campaign that aims to raise awareness that alcohol and the sea do not mix. Excessive alcohol impairs judgment, which can lead to tragic and often fatal accidents. This incident was compounded by the man refusing to be rescued, putting both himself and the rescuers in danger, and wasting the valuable time of all the emergency services.”