Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey has spoken of her 'fury' that the chief executive of the RNLI has refused to meet her to discuss a potential 'downgrading' of the lifeboat at a Suffolk station.
Ms Coffey, who is also environment secretary, had called for an urgent meeting with Mark Dowie to talk about the future of Aldeburgh lifeboat station, but posted on her Facebook page that the discussions will not be taking place.
READ MORE: Suffolk: MP's fears Aldeburgh Lifeboat could be 'downgraded'
She said: "I'm furious that the chief executive of the RNLI, Mark Dowie has refused to meet me to discuss the future of Aldeburgh lifeboat station.
"I previously wrote to him to ask for an urgent meeting after I was informed of a possible ‘downgrade’ of the local lifeboat capabilities via an RNLI review."
In April, the EADT revealed the MP's concerns about a potential downgrading of the station's lifeboat capacity from the current all-weather Mersey-class Freddie Cooper to an inshore Atlantic-85 boat.
She said the potential change would 'restrict the station's capabilities'.
The RNLI has been liaising with volunteers and staff at Aldeburgh about the 'correct lifeboat configuration' for the Suffolk coastal station as the Freddie Cooper had reached the end of its operational life.
READ MORE: Aldeburgh news
However, in her post, Ms Coffey said she was concerned that a review in 2017 determined that a new all-weather lifeboat was needed, while a public fundraising campaign had collected sufficient funds for a Shannon-class boat.
But she understood there was a 'restricted fund' of £2.4m for a lifeboat, while a Shannon-class vessel costs £2.5m.
She added: "Not only is it concerning that there appears to be little progress in considering this preferred option, there now seems to be a real risk of a downgrade, which is not helped by the lack of transparency from the RNLI."
READ MORE: Suffolk news
She highlighted a similar fundraising campaign at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk, which succeeded in securing a Shannon-class for the station.
Nobody from the RNLI was available for comment.
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