Police *Heddlu Underwater Search & Marine Unit checking Lake bed before visit by Prince Charles. Waterhead Ambleside 31/03/2010


31 March 2010 Female Police diver The search unit checked the boats & Lake bed twice over two days before Prince Charles went on the Lakes Cruise -The Queen of the Lake- For Pictures of Prince Charles visit ..............-ALAMY\search\Prince Charles Shoosmith ...... North West Underwater Search & Marine Unit Police *Heddlu The Underwater Search & Marine Unit There is a huge variety of crucial police work going on beneath the surface of the region's lakes, canals, rivers and coastline. Plunging down to depths of 50m searching for missing people, murder weapons and drugs caches is the day to day work of the Search Unit. Covering the largest area of any police dive team in the UK, the 12 members of the Unit can be called out to search anywhere between North Wales and the Scottish border. Based at Runcorn, the officers are well placed to handle incidents in any of the six force areas - Cheshire, North Wales, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria. Not only do the team search beneath the depths of the region's chilly waterways, they are also fully equipped to deal with a huge variety of potentially life threatening situations on land. The day can vary from the search for a murder weapon in a lake to the recovery of a decomposed body in a house, and the hours often stretch way beyond a normal working day. Why is the Unit needed? The unit is pre-paid for by all six forces. There is no cost incurred to any division for calling the unit out. Dependent on the risk, the team is able to dive at any time of the day or night in any weather conditions. The unit is fully equipped with specialist equipment and clothing to prevent contamination from decomposed bodies on land or water. The team's remit is to search areas other police teams cannot reach. This includes lakes, rivers, marshlands, sewage drains and pot-holes. The officers can also cover areas up to 12 miles off shore.


Size: 3667px × 5500px
Location: Waterhead Piers -Ambleside Cumbria Lake District England United Kingdom Great Brtain GB UK
Photo credit: © Gordon Shoosmith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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