A coastal town enjoyed some time in the limelight this weekend when its lifeboat crew joined forces with local shantymen for a starring role on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

Members of the RNLI Sheringham crew and the Sheringham Shantymen – along with lifeboat crews from Portishead and Rye Harbour - were invited by Ant and Dec to take part in Takeaway’s ‘End of the Show’ show, by singing along to a specially-penned shanty to the tune of ‘The Wellerman’.

The tune became world-famous on social media app TikTok earlier this year, and the Sheringham Shantymen had already perfected their own rendition of the traditional song.

The group joined the crew for a socially distanced shanty outside the station boathouse on the town’s promenade, with crew member and filmographer Chris Taylor capturing the footage for the show’s producers.

An estimated 8 million viewers tuned in to the ITV peak-time show.

The shantymen have a long-standing relationship with Sheringham’s lifeboat station, having been formed by members of the crew more than 30 years ago.

Five of the current group are also volunteers at RNLI Sheringham, including Musical Director Brian Farrow, who serves as the station’s lifeboat operations manager.

Mr Farrow said: “The sea shanty’s had a real boom in popularity recently, and it was great to see Ant and Dec’s own spin on the tradition. When we got the call to take part, it was a pretty easy decision to say yes.

“Once we made a plan to make sure we could perform the song in a Covid secure way, all that was left was to learn Ant and Dec’s new lyrics. And of course to enlist the expert skills of our crew member Chris, who did a brilliant job of filming the performance.

“We have been performing and supporting the RNLI, both locally and nationally, for 30 years. We’ve played in front of some pretty big audiences in that time, but it’s fair to say this was our biggest gig yet!”

The episode aired on Saturday night at 7pm, but can still be viewed at www.itv.com/saturdaynighttakeaway