LITTLE-REPORTED, a bizarre rescue took place recently on the North Yorkshire coast. A man was trapped for 15 hours among rocks at Scarborough.

At dusk one evening he slipped between boulders. He spent the night wedged in the rocks, thankfully above high tide. Spotted by walkers the next morning he was eased out, safely, in a tricky operation by firefighters, coastguards and paramedics.

Not stated in the brief local report was that the incident occurred in the so-called “rock armour”, a deep line of boulders, installed to boost Scarborough’s sea defences. But it emerged that similar, though less dramatic, rescues had taken place before. Fire crews are now trained to meet these emergencies.

The event has been seized on by Scarborough’s redoubtable Sons of Neptune, the pressure group that saved the resort from what would have been a disastrously-inadequate sewage treatment scheme. Peace now reigns on that front. In fact more than peace, for just last week the Sons and their former adversary, Yorkshire Water, symbolically gathered on the North Bay beach. With water, they toasted a new partnership, to achieve the higher bathing-water guidelines now set by the EU.

But the Sons are locked in battle with the borough council over that rock armour. Already in place along the Marine Drive and at Holbeck, where the hotel famously collapsed in 1993, it will stretch in front of the Spa – if the council gets its way.

In vain have the Sons pointed out the aesthetic loss. Imported from Scandinavia, the huge, stark boulders never look natural. If in doubt visit Staithes, where rock armour against the piers has industrialised the small harbour.

A decision not to use the rocks to defend the piers at Whitby, which need major strengthening, acknowledges the damaging visual impact.

Rightly, the Sons see Scarborough Spa as equally meriting protection. If anywhere encapsulates the image of Scarborough as the Queen of Watering Places, an old title whose survival reflects its accuracy, it is the Spa complex – the bridge, the elegant Spa building itself and, yes, the Victorian sea wall.

Sons’ leader Freddie Drabble declares: “I have walked this area winter and summer at least once a week and have never been at risk of even getting wet. I have yet to see any wave dodgers there, for the simple reason that no waves come over the wall.”

He adds that the council has been unable “to provide any record of anyone or their property being injured or damaged by any waves splashing over the Spa wall – EVER”.

But with the rock armour rescues, the Sons have identified a safety issue.

“Who is taking responsibility for loss of life if this hare-brained scheme is implemented?”

asks Mr Drabble.

Good question, since the rock armour is essentially an engineering project and therefore different from naturally-occurring rocks.

But how sad that safety has to be invoked to resist a scheme well described by the Sons as “completely destructive of scenery, heritage and amenity”. As they also point out, mistakes with sewage treatment can be rectified, but “a massive heap of black boulders dumped on the sands can’t be put right”.

Scarborough is – always has been – more than a Kiss-Me-Quick resort. Its long term prosperity depends on maintaining a gracious image. If the Sons of Neptune see that, why can’t the council?