Foyle Search and Rescue urge public not to use liferings unless of an emergency

Foyle Search and Rescue has issued an appeal for the public not use liferings unless its an emergency.

The life saving organsation issued the appeal after it emerged a lifering was thrown into the water from the Peace Bridge in the early hours of this morning.

The lifering was subsequently used in a rescue operation hours later.

A Foyle Search and Rescue spokesperson said: "At 00:45am this morning, a male took a lifering from it's housing on the Peace Bridge, and threw it into the river. There was no emergency, they simply threw it in for a bit of craic, we can only assume. This person was aprehended and given a Community Resolutions Notice for their actions."Less than three hours earlier, a nearby lifering was deployed to aid someone who entered the water, thanks to this correct use of the lifering, the person was rescued and taken to safety."These situations show the correct and incorrect uses of these liferings and just how VITAL they are as life-saving equipment. Tampering with them can endanger lives, and hamper our ability to rescue another."Our teams now must replace this lifering, and HOPEFULLY be able to find & retrieve the vandalised lifering from the water."Thank you to our colleagues in the City Centre Wardens for their assistance!"