Lifeboat crews were called into action more than 50 times on the north Norfolk coast last year rescue figures from the RNLI reveal.

The busiest station at Wells saw 37 launches rescuing 45 people during 2015. The Cromer inshore lifeboat George and Muriel and all-Weather lifeboat Lester were involved in 10 emergency launches and eight rescues.

At Sheringham crew members on The Oddfellows responded to seven SOS calls and carried out two rescues.

Across Norfolk RNLI lifeboat volunteers rescued 189 people, with 14 classed as lives saved.

RNLI community incident reduction manager in the east Paul Barker said: 'Once again our volunteer lifeboat crews have had a busy 12 months working hard to serve their local communities. They willingly down tools and drop everything to respond to an emergency call for help day or night, come rain or shine.'

He added: 'I would like to thank all of our volunteers for their tireless hard work and dedication throughout the past 12 months. Without all of our supporters, fundraisers, crews and education teams our lifesaving service would not operate.'

In one of the most dramatic incidents Wells crew members rescued seven people, including three children, last April when their boat suffered an engine failure near Blakeney Pit in the harbour.

The engine of the 18ft open boat had failed in squally sea conditions with no one on board wearing life jackets.

2015 saw the RNLI run its national Respect the Water campaign, which aims to reduce the number of coastal drownings.