Attempts are being made to reduce the silting up of a Devon estuary in order to allow a lifeboat to operate freely.

The mouth of the Exe Estuary has resulted in the Exmouth lifeboat being stranded on its moorings at low water.

On one occasion it was unable to answer a distress call because it was stranded.

Now the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has brought in a tug to redistribute the sand and create a channel in and out of the river that is accessible on any tide.

It's not dredging. We're assisting nature

Exmouth lifeboat spokesman

The silting up of the mouth of the River Exe has happened since commercial shipping stopped.

A sludge boat which prevented sand and silt build-ups was then taken out of commission because it was considered not necessary.

A spokesman for the lifeboat said: "Like all estuaries, it silts.

"A combination of things coming together, which might happen only once every 100 years, might stop the boat from being launched until an hour either side of low tide."

The sand is being redistributed by a tug which is dragging a plough-like attachment along the river bed.

This will ensure a minimum depth of 1.5 metre in the centre of the river to allow for the vessel's 1.4 metre draft.

The lifeboat spokesman said: "It's not dredging. We're assisting nature to scour the sand out of the navigable channel into side channels."

All-weather vessel

The scheme has been agreed with conservation group English Nature and Exeter City Council.

The results will be analysed and if the work is successful it will be carried out on a regular basis.

Exmouth has had a lifeboat for 200 years. It currently has an all-weather Trent lifeboat.

It has only been unable to launch the vessel once in 100 years.