COASTGUARDS in the North-East and Yorkshire dealt with more than 1,000 incidents last year.
There were 26 lives lost. However, annual figures released by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency reveal that the Tyne Tees and Humber areas had one of the lowest incident rates in the country.
A total of 284 people died off the UK coast last year, in incidents ranging from drownings and cliff falls to accidents at sea. The figure was 234 in 2000.
The busiest area in the country was the Solent, where coastguards and lifeboat crew attended 1,405 incidents. There were 28 deaths.
Tyne Tees coastguards attended 394 incidents which involved nine fatalities, while the Humber crews were called out 648 times and there were 17 deaths.
The agency said the rise was due to the number of people using the sea and coastline for pleasure, along with good weather last summer
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