RNLI lifeboat crews in the region had their busiest year ever, saving hundreds of people last year.

The volunteer teams of the North division, which also includes Cumbria, Lancashire and Lincolnshire, rescued 961 people and launched 1,282 times.

This represents a 24 per cent increase on 2008 and a three per cent rise on the previous busiest year, 2003.

The busiest lifeboat station in the North was Sunderland RNLI, with 101 launches, followed by Skegness 82, Hartlepool 81, Blackpool, 76, and Fleetwood 73.

Nationally, the RNLI also had the busiest year in its 186-year history, launching 9,154 times and rescuing 8,186 people.

RNLI lifeguards were also operating in the North for the first time, patrolling beaches in Tyne and Wear, North and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They dealt with 1,468 incidents and helped 1,508 people.

The rescue figures of 2009 may have been partly caused by the economic situation, said RNLI Divisional Inspector, North, Andy Clift.

He said: "We suspect more people stayed in the UK instead of taking holidays abroad in 2009, impacting on the demands made on our lifeboat volunteers and lifeguards.

"When we examine rescue figures for the last ten years they show a general increase in coastal recreation in the North of England while calls to fishing vessels in difficulty - once a major cause of RNLI launches - have decreased."

The most common type of casualty last year was people in the sea - swimmers, divers and people who had fallen in.

The RNLI is urging the public to support its fund-raising SOS Day on Friday. (JAN 29)To take part or make a donation go to www.rnli.org.uk/sos or call 0845 121 4999.