Diggers and the rising tide: Coastal chaos in Portsmouth!
A major blunder unfolded this morning on Eastern Road, Portsmouth, as teams repairing coastal defences lost a digger – and it got stuck fast in the mud!
Mud trap misery hamstrings recovery
With the tide looming, a frantic five-hour rescue operation kicked off. Two specialist army-grade recovery trucks from Boarhunt and Avery’s battled to yank the tracked vehicle free using heavy-duty winches. The digger had sunk deep into the muddy shoreline at Langstone Harbour, causing quite the coastal commotion.
Fuel fears dashed – no environmental disaster
A Raymond Brown spokesman confirmed: “One of our excavators working on the coastal defences became stuck in the mud. We called in contractors to assist with recovery.”
He added the machine runs on vegetable oil and has reinforced fuel tanks. “Before recovery begins, we’ll drain the fuel. There are currently no environmental concerns, and our teams have strict procedures to avoid pollution.”
The dramatic digger rescue highlights the tricky task of safeguarding Portsmouth’s coastline – especially when mud and tides team up.
