THE niece of the man who was swept out to sea at Trebarwith over the weekend has made an urgent call for regular checks to be made to the public telephone box and lifesaving equipment kept there.

Her concern followed her anguish at finding the only phone box in the area — a blind spot for a mobile phone signal — was not working.

Shane Galliers, 51, from the Launceston area, was at Trebarwith on Saturday with members of his family, who had gathered to spread the ashes of his sister, Michelle Galliers.

Mr Galliers walked a little further away from the group to say his personal farewell, and it is believed that either a large wave or strong winds knocked him off his feet and into the water.

Two members of the party went into the sea in an attempt to rescue him, but they were unsuccessful. They managed to get to shore safely, but Mr Galliers was swept out to sea.

Falmouth Coastguard scrambled a search and rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor, two coastguard rescue teams from Boscastle and Port Isaac carried out a shoreline search and the Padstow RNLI was also requested to launch.

After a four-hour search on Saturday evening, the helicopter and lifeboats completed their searches but the coastguard rescue teams continued.

Conditions were unfavourable with gale-force winds and rough seas.

After an extensive search, Mr Galliers was not found and, on Sunday, the search was called off.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.