A 41-YEAR-OLD lifeboatman whose courage and skill saved a teenage girl was given a bravery award yesterday.

Michael Farline was among six people praised by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society.

Mr Farline, from Filey, North Yorkshire, led the rescue of the teenager and a woman who got into trouble while swimming at Reighton Sands, an area of strong tidal streams and undercurrents, in August last year.

During the rescue, the lifeboat was spun around, grounded on a sandbank and nearly swamped by waves.

The crew of Rescue 131, at RAF Boulmer, Northumberland, was also honoured for saving a seriously ill man on a ship in December.