LEADING chef Mark Hix is heating up our Save Our Lifesavers campaign.

The West Dorset resident has signed the petition calling for a Coastguard Supercentre to be built in the area.

Mark, who owns Hix Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis, said axing Portland Coastguard Station is ‘a crazy idea’.

“I’ve lived down here on and off for years,” he said. “For me a local coastguard is a crucial thing. It goes hand in hand with the tourism we have here and it’s like having police on the streets.

“The minute there are cutbacks, that seems to be when things start to go wrong.

“The London riots last week are an example of that – they said that things got too expensive and pulled police off the streets to save money.

“Then the vandals and hooligans took advantage of that.”

Mark enjoys seafaring on the Jurassic Coastline and uses an old speed boat for fishing.

The restaurateur added: “Because I was brought up on the coast, swimming in the sea was part of my school education.

“I had it built into me as a kid. These days I’m not sure if kids do things like that now.”

Mark said the coastguard on the other end of the line to a 999 call needed to have knowledge of the area.

“I have been using the beach since I was a kid and there was a large shelf on West Bay we would swim off.

“It’s so important for kids who are exposed to the sea and beaches to have all this protection.

“It’s nice to know that they are safe..”

l The government plans to close the coastguard control room at Weymouth harbourside and has yet to decide where the supercentre that will handle coastguard communications is to be based.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council is compiling a proposal for the Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) to be built in the area and not in the Solent, as originally proposed by Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond.

Together with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, the Echo is holding a Walk of Support for Portland Coastguard on Saturday, September 3 from Weymouth Pav-ilion at 11am and would like as many people as possible to join us.

l Have you been saved by Portland Coastguard or do you know anyone who has?

If so, we’d like to hear from you about your support for the coastguards.

Call the Dorset Echo newsdesk on 01305 830999 or send an email to newsdesk@ dorsetecho.co.uk.