Poole Old Lifeboat Museum in Dorset has closed after volunteers were verbally abused by anti-migrant protesters angry at the RNLI's role in rescuing Channel migrants. The closure follows a demonstration outside the RNLI's nearby headquarters on Wednesday night, part of wider unrest linked to a rescue operation earlier in the week in which the charity was accused by campaigners of acting as a "taxi service" for small boat crossings.

The protests began after 140 migrants aboard a "mega-dinghy" were rescued by two RNLI boats on Sunday but refused permission to dock at Southampton or Portsmouth, eventually landing at Eastney amid a standoff involving around 500 protesters. On Wednesday, roughly 60 demonstrators, including the group Poole Patriots, gathered outside RNLI headquarters, after which volunteers reported being threatened and abused; the museum, housed in a former boathouse dating to 1882, said it would stay shut until protests ease, with the RNLI hoping to reopen it the following day. RNLI vice-president Sir Robin Knox-Johnston condemned the targeting of volunteers as "disgraceful", stressing crews only deploy when called by the Coastguard.