An 81-year-old man had to be rescued when he was blown out to sea in his small inflatable
dinghy whilst attempting to rescue his wheelie bin.

Bert Forkings called 999 on his mobile after trying to tow the bin, which had been dragged out by one of the highest tides this year, back to shore.

Bert told the Metro, “The bin had just started to float off and it was going out to sea. The wind was coming up a bit and it was against the tide so I decided to sit down and wait for the lifeboat to arrive.”

When the volunteer lifeboat crew arrived on scene they found Bert, who was not wearing a lifejacket or waterproof clothing, very cold
and wet sitting in a boat that was half full of sea
water.

They helped him back to dry land and kept him warm while they went out again to grab the bin.

RNLI spokesman Dave Massey said, “The volunteer lifeboat crews at Moelfre have dealt with a wide
variety of emergency calls over the years but I am sure that this is
the first time we have been involved in towing in a wheelie bin.”