 Volunteer lifeboat crews around the UK rescued 7,000 people in 2004 |
Tower Pier on the River Thames is home to the busiest lifeboat station in the UK, according to a recent study. Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) figures show that last year there were 322 boat launches from the London base and 134 people rescued.
Poole in Dorset was the busiest coastal station in the UK with 132 launches rescuing 151 people.
The RNLI's fleet of 330 lifeboats launched 7,656 times, rescuing on an average of 21 people every day.
'Working tirelessly'
A total of 7,507 people were rescued by volunteer lifeboat crews in 2004.
Michael Vlasto, of the RNLI, said: "The increasing range of coastal recreational pursuits has seen our crews respond to more and more incidents relating to people engaged in leisure pursuits.
"Monitoring our activity and analysing the sorts of incidents we respond to, helps us to plan the allocation of our resources to meet future needs."
Mr Vlasto thanked the crews for their continuing commitment and the thousands of station and fundraising volunteers for "working tirelessly to ensure the RNLI can continue to save lives at sea".
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