Evening Times Online - May 06 2005 - By Gerry Braiden
Clyde River Rescue George is dumped by Police
RIVER rescue hero George Parsonage has been dumped from his role in assisting the police.
On the day Mr Parsonage receives an award for rescuing 1500 from the Clyde it has been revealed that Strathclyde Police will no longer call upon his help.
The force claims that because Mr Parsonage, who runs the Glasgow Humane Society, is now working alone he poses a health and safety risk.
As reported in last night's Evening Times Mr Parsonage was today being presented with a lifetime achievement award from the Royal Humane Society in London for saving so many lives.
He also has a clutch of awards for bravery and was awarded the MBE for his work by the Queen in 1999. But in recent months Mr Parsonage has been working alone after his last assistant returned to Ireland.
After hearing that Mr Parsonage, who is based at the river on Glasgow Green, was working on his own police decided that the force could no longer call on him for assistance.
Duties will now be carried out by both the police underwater team and fire brigade rescue teams.
The decision comes just months after Strathclyde Joint Police Board, which decides how the force's budget is spent, approved its annual £50,000 grant to the Humane Society.
A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "I can confirm a memo has been sent out saying that police are no longer able to call on Mr Parsonage for rescue and recovery work."
The decision was taken at the end of last month following a meeting with representatives from the police, the fire brigade and Glasgow Humane Society.
And there's no guarantee that should another assistant be appointed the relationship will automatically be renewed.
The spokeswoman added: "Should the Glasgow Humane Society appoint a suitably qualified person as an assistant we will review our position."
Mr Parsonage was today unavailable for comment.
But in an interview with the Evening Times just yesterday he said: "As long as I am physically able to do the job and the citizens of Glasgow want it done I'd like to continue, but we never know what's round the corner."
Mr Parsonage, 61, has worked for the Society since he took over from his father Ben in 1979.
Mr Parsonage and his dad, who rescued more than 1000, are so famous in Glasgow they even have a street named after them - Parsonage Row in the Merchant City.
The Glasgow Humane Society, which was set up in 1790, is the oldest organisation of its kind in the world.
It was established after Glasgow merchant James Coulter donated £200 to buy a lifeboat to rescue drowning people and recover bodies from Glasgow's rivers.