Nith Inshore Rescue takes on Ineos Grenadier as search and rescue vehicle

Nith Inshore Rescue – one of the busiest lifeboat stations in Scotland - is taking on an Ineos Grenadier as its search and rescue vehicle.

The charity deploys its lifeboat, search and rescue vehicle and other equipment when called upon by the HM Coastguard Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

Jointly funded by the Coastal Communities Fund and St John Scotland, this is the first blue-light emergency response Grenadier in the UK.

The vehicle, which replaces the charity’s ageing Land Rover Defender, was recently unveiled alongside the search and rescue service’s fully-refurbished St John lifeboat.

Peter Bryden, secretary of Nith Inshore Rescue, said: “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.

“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.”

Specialist search and rescue equipment provider Emergency One customised the vehicle with the kit specified by Nith Inshore Rescue’s team, including a powerful extendable roof-mounted camera.

Nith Inshore Rescue is based in Glencaple, on the estuary of the River Nith close to where in joins the Solway Firth in south-west Scotland.

It is crewed by a team of 24 volunteers and also supports police, ambulance, RNLI and mountain rescue services in their front-line search and rescue duties.

It attends an average of 30 callouts a year, and was founded in 1981 after the drowning of a local man prompted residents to form Glencaple’s own rescue service.