Lifeboat crews have busy summer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/8269298.stm

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Scotland's lifeboat service has had one of the busiest summers on record, new figures have shown.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has revealed lifeboats were launched on 429 occasions during June, July and August.

Some Scottish stations saw more than twice as much demand as last year.

Broughty Ferry RNLI lifeboat station was the busiest, with its two lifeboats launching a total of 38 times in the three month period.

Five east coast stations - which are overwhelmingly staffed by volunteers - were involved in almost 29% of all rescues around Scotland.

Kinghorn was the busiest single RNLI lifeboat, launching 23 times. The lifeboats in Dunbar launched 23 times, followed by Queensferry with 22 and Anstruther with 19 launches.

Some Scottish lifeboats saw demand double compared with summer 2008 - Invergordon lifeboat crew helped in 12 search and rescues compared with just five the year before.

Kyle of Lochalsh whose volunteer lifeboat crew helped rescue 38 people (2 of which were children) during an incident at a regatta in Plockton in August, launched to eight rescues compared to four last summer.

Wave Crookes, divisional inspector for Scotland, said: "It has been a busy summer for the RNLI in Scotland but as always our volunteer lifeboat crews put the safety of the public first - dropping everything the moment the pager goes off.

"Lifeboat crews have responded to a variety of calls from stricken yachts and fishing boats to injured walkers and one crew even helped a woman give birth onboard the lifeboat."

He added: "Sadly the summer months haven't been without tragedy and as a former coxswain I know there is nothing worse than not being able to bring some back to shore alive and well."