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Blackpool PCs remembered 30 years after sea deaths Blackpool PCs remembered 30 years after sea deaths
(about 14 hours later)
A memorial service is to be held to mark 30 years since three police officers died in an attempted sea rescue at Blackpool. A memorial service has been held to mark 30 years since three police officers died in an attempted sea rescue at Blackpool.
PCs Colin Morrison, Gordon Connolly and Angela Bradley drowned trying to save a holidaymaker who entered the sea to rescue his pet dog on 5 January 1983.PCs Colin Morrison, Gordon Connolly and Angela Bradley drowned trying to save a holidaymaker who entered the sea to rescue his pet dog on 5 January 1983.
The service will take place at 13:00 GMT at Gynn Square. Their families were joined by members of Lancashire Police past and present and members of the public.
A memorial to all emergency service staff who have died on duty will be unveiled later this year. Ch Supt Richard Debicki said the fallen officers made "the ultimate sacrifice".
The officers went into the sea close to Gynn Square but were overcome by the strong tide, waves and freezing cold water as they tried to rescue 25-year-old Alistair Anthony, from Glasgow, who also died as he tried to save his Jack Russell. He said: "I know for those on duty, for all the emergency services at the time, the harrowing events of that day are all still too clear.
"One can only imagine how difficult it must have been for them to hear that trusted friends and colleagues had been lost during this dreadful incident.
"But it is the pain and loss for the families, who lost their loved ones, that is the greatest and deepest."
The service was held at Gynn Square, close to where the officers went into the sea.
They were overcome by the strong tide, waves and freezing cold water as they tried to rescue 25-year-old Alistair Anthony, from Glasgow, who also died as he tried to save his Jack Russell.
A fourth officer, PC Pat Abram, was rescued by colleagues who were able to throw a rope around his neck, before he was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the prom.A fourth officer, PC Pat Abram, was rescued by colleagues who were able to throw a rope around his neck, before he was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the prom.
The families of the victims will be joined by members of Lancashire Police past and present as well as members of the public. During the service a two-minute silence was observed and a bell, donated by Lancashire Fire Service in memory of the fallen officers, rang out for each of them.
Ch Supt Richard Debicki, of Blackpool police, said: "That tragic day in 1983 was one of the darkest in the history of Lancashire Constabulary. Three officers arrived for duty in the morning but never returned to their families. Local preacher Tom Birch read A Lament To The Absent by Edwin Muir.
"They died trying to save a man that they did not know, which is the epitome of public service. Chief Constable Steve Finnigan and members of the fallen officers' families then laid flowers under a plaque at Gynn Square which serves as a permanent memorial to their bravery.
"Those officers are etched in the history of Lancashire Constabulary - their photographs still on the walls in our police stations, rooms named in memory of them, and bravery awards still awarded in their name." After the service, local doctor John Frankland, who attended the rescue and helped revive PC Abram, said: "The weather was absolutely savage that night.
On New Year's Day, Paul Morris, 41, died when he was swept into the sea while walking his dog in the South Shore, Blackpool. "The wind was very strong, the waves were very high, it was cold, threatening. Not the day to be in the sea at all.
"All these people here today, paying their respects to those who died so long ago, shows how deeply that sadness was felt."
A memorial to all emergency service staff who have died on duty will be unveiled later this year.
On New Year's Day Paul Morris, 41, died when he was swept into the sea while walking his dog on the town's South Shore.