A LIFEBOAT station has had its busiest summer since it was formed more than 200 years ago.

In June, July and August, Redcar's two lifeboats were called out on 34 occasions, a 40 per cent rise on the same period last year.

On one day in July, the lifeboats responded to seven incidents, mainly involving young people using inflatable toys and dinghies in strong offshore winds.

Last month, the boats were involved in massive searches when the North-East was hit by sudden storms one Sunday morning.

A spokesman for the station said: "We have been extremely busy this summer. We think this is mainly due to the increased number of visitors to the beach, brought about by the exceptionally good weather the whole country enjoyed.

"We would continue to warn people of the risks the North Sea holds. Even at the height of summer, it can be a cold and unforgiving place."

Nationally, this has been the busiest summer for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), with 3,667 launches over the three-month summer period, more than 40 a day.

The operations director for the RNLI, Michael Vlasto, said: "After such a busy season, I would like to thank our lifeboat crews, who are mostly volunteers, for risking their lives time after time to save others. They are all on call 24/7 and never tire of their responsibility.