IT has been a busy 12 months for the crew of Lowestoft Lifeboat, with the highest recorded call-out in the past five years. The latest figures, which have been released by the RNLI today >, show that the Spirit of Lowestoft was launched on service a total of 31 times and they helped a total of 54 people in 2008.

IT has been a busy 12 months for the crew of Lowestoft Lifeboat, with the highest recorded call-out in the past five years.

The latest figures, which have been released by the RNLI today >, show that the Spirit of Lowestoft was launched on service a total of 31 times and they helped a total of 54 people in 2008.

This is up from the 2007 figures when the lifeboat was called out 28 times with 45 lives being saved.

In 2007, East Anglia's lifeboat crews experienced a steep rise in callouts to sailing craft - and this has again been the most prominent call-out for the Spirit of Lowestoft Lifeboat in 2008.

Across the region, one of the most significant increases in launches in 2008 has been to the number of 'people ashore', which includes cliff climbers, people ill or injured and people trapped.

The RNLI's annual East Anglian rescue statistics have showed that the charity's volunteer lifeboat crews in the region launched 605 times and rescued 543 people in 2008. This compares to the 2007 figures where there were 611 launches and 614 people rescued across the region.

And reflecting on the local figures, Richard Musgrove, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Operations Manager, said: 'We have had a particularly busy year with an especially active summer season as our lifeboat was launched seven times in both July and August.

'I would like to especially thank the employers who release our volunteer crew when there is a call, the fundraisers, donors and other supporters without whom our lifeboat couldn't go to sea to save so many lives.'

The 'services breakdown' for Lowestoft Lifeboat in 2008 is as below:

Casualty typeFrequency

Person/ kitesurfer10

Leisure Powered 6

Sailing Leisure11

Fishing Vessel 1

Small Leisure 2

Total31

Elsewhere locally, Southwold Lifeboat launched 15 times last year, which was a slight increase on the 11 call-outs in 2007. The Leslie Tranmer RNLI rescued 10 people in 2008, which was up from the two people rescued the previous year.

The South Broads Inshore Lifeboat was launched eight times last year, which is a decrease of more than half after 17 launches in 2007. Of last year's call-outs, 11 people were rescued by the South Broads Inshore Lifeboat crew.

In the five-year period between 2004 and 2008, the South Broads Inshore Lifeboat has launched 90 times with 47 people being rescued.