Nith Inshore Rescue has taken delivery of a new Ineos Grenadier, which will be used as its new search and rescue vehicle.

Based near Dumfries, on the estuary of the River Nith, close to where it joins the Solway Firth, Nith Inshore Rescue is one of the busiest lifeboat stations in Scotland. Its volunteers aim to protect life and property under threat from the sea, inland water, flooding and other water-related incidents in the Upper Solway and surrounding area. When called upon by the HM Coastguard Rescue Co-ordination Centre, the charity deploys its lifeboat, search and rescue vehicle and other equipment.

Jointly funded by the Coastal Communities Fund and St John Scotland, this is the UK’s first blue-light emergency response Grenadier and replaces the charity’s aged Land Rover Defender. The vehicle was recently unveiled alongside the search and rescue service’s fully refurbished St John lifeboat. Specialist search and rescue equipment provider Emergency One took full advantage of the Grenadier’s ‘plug-and-play’ wiring set-up to customise the vehicle with the kit Nith Inshore Rescue’s team specified. This included a powerful, extendable roof-mounted camera named Jonny Five, after the robot character in the film Short Circuit.

“We deal with life-and-death situations, very harsh weather, and challenging terrain, so when it came to evaluating the options for a new support vehicle, there were few options, and the Grenadier stood out, ticking all the boxes,” explained Peter Bryden, secretary of Nith Inshore Rescue. “We were very impressed with the way it has been engineered and built to last, as well as how straightforward it was to convert it for this role. Together with our revitalised lifeboat, we expect it to serve our team for the next 40 years.”

Nith Inshore Rescue

A cross-generational team of 24 volunteers crew Nith Inshore Rescue. The charity also supports Police, Ambulance, RNLI and mountain rescue services in their front-line search and rescue duties. It attends around 30 callouts a year, making its lifeboat station one of the busiest in Scotland. It was founded in 1981 after the drowning of a local man prompted residents to form Glencaple’s own rescue service.

Now replaced by the Ineos Grenadier and no longer required for active service, the Nith Inshore Rescue’s retired Land Rover Defender is being auctioned to raise rescue service funds.

Phil Huff
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