If in doubt "Shout"

On Sunday two "cavers" were reported overdue after going exploring in the caves of the Purbecks.

Portland MRCC tasked both Swanage Lifeboats, the helicopter and St Albans Coastguard to search the area but as they began another call came in from the families of the two saying they had phoned and were safe. All units were cancelled.

The Watch manager at Portland said "they are safe and the parents got it right in reporting this as soon as there was concern, if in doubt you shout"

Our area has many caves, some natural others left over from quarrying. Over the last few year we have been mapping many of the old quarry workings in the Swanage area to assist in future searches, this project is known as "project pitfall". We use this project to assess the risk during incidents graded on the condition of these caves and quarry shafts. These areas can be very dangerous and our advice is to take extreme care, check with the land owner before entering any cave or shaft.