A LAST ditch bid to save a lifeboat station from the axe was made by crew members in person at the RNLI HQ.
The delegation from St Abbs in Berwickshire said the plan flies in the face of popular opinion and handed over a petition with more than 13,500 signatures calling for the boat to be kept.
The station is due to close next week. Repair and maintenance costs at the St Abbs site along with wider cuts in the service were blamed.
The campaigners made the 450-mile journey to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution HQ in Poole, Dorset, to hand in the petition.
Campaigner and resident Euan Gibson was joined by Paul Crowe and David Wilson, both of St Abbs Lifeboat and direct descendants of two of the original crew members of the first lifeboat.
Mr Gibson said the National Trust for Scotland had also voiced concern over the about the move.
He said: "St Abbs Head is a very highly visited National Trust headland with about 45,000 to 50,000 visitors every year.
He said there is "opposition to this right across the spectrum".
The RNLI has said it was a "difficult decision" to shut the site but that cover will be provided from Eyemouth two miles away.
Mr Gibson said: “The petition has been delivered.
“We backed up the 13,500 signatures by confirming the deep concerns people have from all over the UK about the proposed closure of St Abbs.”
The delegation met with George Rawlinson, RNLI head of operations.
He said: “Mr Rawlinson accepted the concerns, and promised he would discuss these issues with others in the Institution.
“It was a frank and open meeting lasting just over an hour.”
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