A SINGLE response centre will handle all HM Coastguard search and rescue 999 calls tomorrow and on Friday in a trial exercise that the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union warns will “risk tragic losses of life.”

Dubbed Operation Bugle, the pilot scheme involving staff in Holyhead being assigned to handle 999 calls and direct them to appropriate local centres will create a “dangerous and unnecessary delay,” the union has said.

PCS representatives expressed “extreme concern” over the trial in a letter to Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) chief executive Virginia McVey.

HM Coastguard is the day-to-day search and rescue division within the MCA.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Using the British public as test subjects is reckless. PCS members are extremely concerned by Operation Bugle and what future dangers it might herald.

“It is a model that has only previously been relied on in exceptional circumstances and it is known to risk tragic losses of life. Outrageously, managers have refused to accept responsibility for anything that could go wrong during the trial.

“This also places undue stress on coastguard officers, who bravely put themselves in dangerous situations as well as bear legal responsibility for rescue operations.

“PCS calls on the MCA to scrap this plan before it is too late and to put resources into reducing risk through proper training for dedicated staff.”

The union says that both the national information delays and the non-local management for Holyhead’s area are recognised as dangerous practice; HM Coastguard training seeks to avoid these at all costs and “this is evidenced by a ‘zone flexing exercise’ last year and the 2021 Cranston inquiry.”

The MCA said: “These claims are completely false. This exercise was entirely simulated and conducted in a controlled rather than live environment.”