THE people of South West Wales have been praised for lending their voice to the campaign to save Swansea Coastguard.

Gower MP Martin Caton yesterday led tributes to all those who signed the 100,000-strong petition opposing the UK Government's plans.

Addressing the Save Swansea Coastguard campaign group in the House of Commons, Mr Caton said: "Your campaign has been marvellous. Well done."

And the Labour MP insisted the fight was by no means over.

The current consultation closes on October 6, pending a possible decision in early November.

But Mr Caton said campaigners should prepare for the long haul, with Swansea Coastguard guaranteed to remain open until 2014/15 at the least.

MPs from either side of the Bristol Channel, plus AMs, joined campaigners in the Commons as the petition was handed to Mr Caton, who will in turn present it to the Government tomorrow morning.

Swansea Coastguard watch manager and union rep Steve Matthews spoke against the planned closure.

"The support throughout the Bristol Channel has been phenomenal," he said.

He described Swansea Coastguard — known as a maritime rescue coordination centre — as a frontline service.

"We cannot emphasise that enough," he said.

It dealt with around 2,000 incidents per year, he said, nearly three times as many as Milford Haven and Holyhead, which are both set to remain open under the revised proposals.

Mr Matthews said it was unfair to pit Swansea against Milford Haven, as the Government had effectively done, and stressed he would like to see all three Welsh stations remain open.

But when it came to the crunch, he felt Swansea had more advantages than its Pembroke- shire rival due to its location, set- up and all-round experience.

Fellow coastguard and union member John Tucker said he felt Swansea was far better suited to the future needs of the coastguard service.

He added: "Support from the public has been exceptional."

Round-the-world yachstman Tony Bullimore, who hails from the West Country and joined campaigners yesterday, said: "The Bristol Channel can be very nasty and commercial shipping is growing."

He felt it was important to have people in the area to coordinate search and rescues, despite improvements in technology.

Swansea East MP Sian James described Swansea Coastguard as of "strategic significance".

She added: "I want my safety protected, visitors' safety protected, and the safety of people using the sea protected. The best people to do that are those at Swansea Coastguard."

South Wales West AM Bethan Jenkins said she felt it had been disingenuous of the Government to propose that Swansea remained open during daylight hours before suddenly recommending its closure.

"It has created anger locally," she said. Fellow AM Suzy Davies said people must keep responding to the consultation until October 6. "One hundred thousand people can't be wrong," she said.

Swansea West MP Geraint Davies said it was important to potential investors, whether tourism or wind farm developers, that there were no potential safety issues in the area.

Swansea coastguard and union member Dai Jones pointed out it could one day be called on to deal with a Cardiff or Bristol airport incident, as both were near the sea and the coastguard service would be likely to be involved in co-ordinating a response.

See our timeline for information on how to carry on the campaign

richard.youle@swwmedia.co.uk