Lifeboats launched on average 42 times a day this June, July and August, according to just released figures.

That figure is a huge 68 per cent up on its daily average over the whole year and a 16 per cent increase on 2009.

RNLI lifeboats responded to 12,911 incidents across the three months, as well as being required 3,926 times by HM Coastguard.

RNLI operations director, Michael Vlasto, said: ‘The summer is always busy as more and more people opt to relax at the coast each summer in the UK and Ireland.

‘The figures show that our volunteers are called on much more during this time and the fact they respond every time the pager goes off shows just how committed they are to saving lives at sea.

‘Many of our lifeboat volunteers are also particularly busy at this time with their day jobs as many of them work in the tourism industry, so we are especially grateful to them in summer and to their employers who allow them to stop work at the bleep of a pager to help others.’

The busiest RNLI lifeboat station was Tower on the River Thames, which saw 179 launches over the summer.

The busiest RNLI lifeboat stations on the coast during this period were Poole with 79 launches, Southend-on-Sea with 66 launches and Eastbourne with 56 launches.

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