A Stormy Day, a Discarded Christmas Tree and a Nasty Hoax Call - that's Brighton and Hove in Winter

Copyright Janet Cameron

Oh, well, it's the end of Christmas, and nothing says it more succinctly than the sight of this discarded little tree lying beside the bins on the seafront.  It would be nice to think it had just been blown there by high winds, and not merely dumped by an uncaring and lazy person.

But - about the bumper-tyred, bright red, vehicles racing up and down the promenade - well, all has been revealed and explained to be by the charming Seafront Rescue people.  They are all doing a great job, in their red jackets by regularly patrolling the seafront for signs of trouble.     

Copyright Janet Cameron

The fast racing along the promenade a few days ago was because they were answering a distress call about someone in trouble in the sea. 

The sad part was that the call was a hoax, as the young woman patroller explained to me. What a truly horrible trick to play.  The awful part is that if there are too many of these hoax calls, people might become less concerned and less speedy - and it could be a genuine, life-threatening incident.

It's not clever and it's not funny.

But I'm glad the vehicles were not as I suspected - joyriders - but genuine guys doing their job and performing a valuable service.

Copyright Janet Cameron