Falmouth Lifeboat Station responded to the highest number of shouts in its history last year after reaching 110 in total.

It meant the station’s volunteer lifeboat crew spent a total of 739 hours at sea during 2021.

The inshore lifeboat was launched 83 times in the past 12 months, while its larger all-weather lifeboat responded to 27 shouts.

Falmouth lifeboat coxwain Jonathon Blakeston said: “Falmouth has been an extremely popular destination for staycations this year, and we’ve never experienced a busier summer period.

“I’d like to extend my thanks to all of our fantastic volunteers who made these rescues possible, responding without hesitation to each and every pager alert – no matter what time of the day or whatever the family occasion.

"This includes our lifeboat crew as well as our shore crew, who provide such brilliant support to them. Our shore crew gave up over 400 hours of their time in total last year, to assist with the safe launch and recovery of our lifeboats.

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“These statistics are fantastic in themselves but it’s also worth highlighting that there are many more training hours that our volunteers spent down at the station throughout the course 2021 in addition to this, brushing up on their knowledge and learning new skills.

"They should all be very proud of the time that they put in for their local community.

“Finally, I’d also like to say a special thank you to the support of our crew’s employers, who so often release them for shouts during working hours. We would not be able to do what we do without the unwavering support of these local businesses.”

The RNLI is a charity that relies on voluntary donations to power its lifesaving work. To find out more and to donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/falmouth-rnli-lifesavers-2022