/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CovidGrant-1.jpg)
Builders to the rescue as sunken car plucked from Portsoy Harbour
Inside the mission to retrieve the Peugeot which had fallen into the sea on Wednesday afternoon.
Nearby builders were called in to rescue a sunken car which had fallen into Portsoy Harbour on Wednesday afternoon.
The car plunged into the sea at around 1pm, with a whole host of emergency crews rushing to the scene.
No one was in the car at the time it went in, with the coastguard saying that it was an “accidental oversight on the owner’s behalf”.
When the car fell in, the tide was fully in, with only the rear wheels poking above the surface.
But as soon as the water had gone back out, a local building firm was on hand to rescue the soggy hatchback.
The Press and Journal spoke to one worker at the scene, and heard the inside story on the rescue operation to get the car back on land.
How did car fall into Portsoy Harbour?
The Peugeot 208 was parked on Shorehead, when it appears that the handbrake was either “not on properly or had snapped” according to onlookers.
Emergency crews rushed to Portsoy soon after, with police, fire service, ambulances and the coastguard all at the scene.
No one was in the vehicle at the time it fell into the harbour, with the focus now turning to how the submerged hatchback would be recovered from water.
Macduff-based Keith Simpson Builders was nearby working on repairing part of the seafront.
They’ve been working at the Aberdeenshire harbour following a breach of the old wall on New Year’s Day after it was battered by sustained and heavy storms.
And thankfully, they had the right kit on hand to come to the rescue…
How was sunken car recovered?
Darren Morrison was one of the builders on site when the car went into the sea.
He told The P&J that he “saw it out of the corner of his eye” but the Peugeot “must have been sitting there for at least a minute” before it rolled off the pier.
The groundworker was just finishing for the day, when the call came in to go round and see if there was anything they could do.
Luckily, the tide had since gone back out, making it much easier to go down with one of the firm’s 13-ton diggers to bring it back onto land.
“It only took us 15 minutes, recovering the car was different to our usual work,” Darren explained.
The car was then taken away by Ross Garage Recovery.
Police were approached for comment.
[Source: Press and Journal]
