A sea-safety charity founded at The Lizard and now boasting more than 50 branches has welcomed the news that it now has a royal patron.

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, has agreed to take over the role for the National Coastwatch Institution, which was founded at Bass Point in 1994 and now has stations across England and Wales – ten of which are in Cornwall.

The charity received confirmation from Buckingham Palace last week that the princess would be “delighted” to accept the invitation to become patron.

A spokesperson for the National Coastwatch Institution said: “This is tremendous news for the charity and a great recognition of the contributions and achievements that NCI makes in ensuring safety around the UK coastline.”

The NCI is funded entirely by donations from the public and sponsorship from businesses.

A total of 2,400 trained volunteers run 52 lookout stations around the coast throughout the year, with the lookouts reporting directly to the coastguard and other emergency services – their motto being that they act the “eyes along the coast.”

Since January 1 this year more than 300 incidents have been recorded, including vessels, kayakers, swimmers and coastal walkers in distress and involving coastguard helicopters and rescue teams, the RNLI, police and ambulance services.

The Palace said the Princess Royal, herself a keen sailor, had been a supporter of, and taken an interest in, the work carried out by the NCI since its inception in 1994, with the charity saying it was “with great pride” that it welcomed her as patron.