2008 January to June - A busy 6 months

RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards were as busy as ever between January and June across the south west*.

The newly released statistics show RNLI lifeboats rescued 630 people in the first 6 months of 2008, nine more than in the same period of 2007 while RNLI lifeguards went to the aid of 1,906 people, up over 400 from a year earlier.

The busiest lifeboat station in the south west was Poole in Dorset and the next five busiest were all lifeboats based in Devon and Cornwall (Exmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Torbay and Appledore). In total RNLI lifeboats in the south west launched 675 times from January 1 to June 30 this year, little changed from 655 launches in the same period last year.

The RNLI has expanded its lifeguarding operations in the south west and its teams saw a huge rise in incidents in the first half of 2008. The charity’s lifeguards were on patrol on 72 beaches across Cornwall, Devon and Dorset up to the end of June, 18 more beaches than in the first half of 2007. They dealt with 1,714 incidents, up 500 from the same period in 2007, aiding 426 more people (1906) and saving 9 lives.
The busiest lifeguarded area was Bournemouth in Dorset where RNLI lifeguards dealt with 297 incidents and aided 330 people. In Cornwall RNLI lifeguards in Carrick dealt with 235 incidents, and in north Devon the beaches at Croyde and Woolacombe were busiest.

*The south west stretches from Weston super Mare lifeboat station in north Somerset, around to Mudeford in Dorset on the south coast, and includes the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands. There are 35 lifeboat stations and 88 lifeguard patrolled beaches.