Mr Browne praised the crew for their heroism

Mr Browne offered his thanks to the crew of HMS Gannet, who were called out 359 times last year to rescue 349 people - a 30% increase on 2006.

Based at Prestwick Airport, the unit provides a 24-hour military and civilian search and rescue service.

Crews at the base cover Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland.

Mr Browne said: "The staff of our search and rescue stations around Britain, whether Royal Navy, RAF or coastguard, put their lives at risk on a regular basis to save others.

Highly skilled

"And for the men and women at HMS Gannet in 2007 this equated to a call out for almost every day of the year, an astonishing statistic.

"They are to be commended for the excellent work which they do above the land and sea of Scotland's west coast and the north of England and I am delighted to have been able to talk to these highly skilled rescuers in person and to personally thank them for their efforts."

Their work has included recovering fallen climbers in winter snow and rescuing injured fishermen hundreds of miles offshore.

Last year crews even rescued a bull which had fallen over a cliff.

The commanding officer of HMS Gannet, Lt Cdr Brian Nicholas, said: "We are very proud of the service we provide. In addition to providing a vital public service this work also helps keep the skills of our aircrew in top form, providing fantastic learning and development opportunities which they then take into military operations around the world.