RNLI volunteers in 1,410 rescues

RNLI lifeguards protect 66 beaches in the South West

RNLI volunteers in the South West spent more time responding to surfing and swimming incidents than any other call-outs in 2007.

New figures show crews rescued 1,410 people in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, North Somerset and the Channel Islands last year, compared to 1,559 in 2006.

Lifeguards patrolling 66 beaches across the region saved 62 lives.

Devon's Torbay lifeboat was busiest with 131 launches. Cornish lifeguards in Carrick assisted the most rescues.

Surfer help

In Dorset, the Weymouth lifeboats were busiest with 116 call-outs. In Cornwall, crews at Falmouth were called out 83 times; and in Somerset the volunteers at Weston-super-Mare went to 39 shouts.

In the Channel Islands, the lifeboat crews at St Peter Port, Guernsey, and St Helier, Jersey, were each launched 35 times.

The busiest RNLI lifeguard areas were Carrick, aiding 1,682 people on the beach, followed by north Devon where the lifeguards on Croyde and Woolacombe beaches aided 1,271 people. Lifeguards in Bournemouth were the third busiest, aiding 1,091 people in 2007.

A spokesman said: "RNLI lifeguards spent a large amount of their time assisting people using surf and body boards, as well as going to swimmers who found themselves in trouble."

He said their figures showed crews were also called to a number of power boats and yachts with machinery failure and helped more than 100 fishing vessels.