Staff at seafront café rescued by lifeboat after road flooded

Staff working at a seafront cafe had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew after a road was submerged by water.

Employees at Tanskeys Bistro in West Kirby, Wirral, became stranded when a high tide flooded the walkway and road today (Tuesday). Footage filmed by staff showed the parade and road completely underwater.

Pictures taken by other people showed cars being moved by the waves, the Liverpool ECHO reports. The Met Office had previously issued a yellow weather warning for high winds.

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A 1.1km sea wall was built in West Kirby between April 2022 and finished in September 2023 to protect seafront properties from flooding. Gaps can usually be seen along the wall to allow access to the town’s promenade but these areas are gated off when there is high risk of flooding.

The local authority recently faced criticism on social media when the gates were not closed in time before part of South Parade flooded in February. Today has also seen extensive flooding as high winds and heavy rain hit the North West.

Hannah Cleator, the manager of Tanskeys Bistro, said: “Once again it’s echoing 2013 (when flooding caused significant damage), with the high wind as well as the high tide. It’s the wind that causes the problem but the problem this time is worse because of the £20m flood defence wall that hasn’t worked, clearly.

"The water can’t get back out into the lake so it’s trapped and it’s pushing against all the buildings so the wall has actually made it worse, not better, sadly. The staff persevered thinking it was going to subside, but unfortunately it got stronger and higher so the RNLI have now had to once again rescue the staff on their backs