A FORMER seaman is helping to save lives by taking time out of his office job to serve as a volunteer.

Peter Davison, who works at London Electricity's call centre at Doxford Park, Sunderland, is also a Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) volunteer.

As part of London Electricity's Helping Hands scheme, which encourages staff to carry out community work, Mr Davison, 35, from Fulwell, Sunderland, is allowed to take emergency calls in work time.

The Sunderland Lifeboat Station deals with more calls than any other on the North-East coast.

Mr Davison's colleagues recently backed the RNLI in a canoeing, mountain-biking and orienteering survival competition, which raised £600. His bosses added £500