Kent lifeboat crews had one of their busiest years ever last year, figures released today reveal.

Volunteers in Margate and Dover recorded their highest figure for rescues since 2000.

The statistics come as crews across the UK and Ireland combined had the busiest 12 months in the 186-year history of the

The charity launched lifeboats on 9,154 occasions. This was the first time the RNLI had exceeded 9,000 launches in a year.

In Kent, the stations at Sheerness, Whitstable, Margate, Ramsgate, Walmer, Dover, Littlestone and Dungeness launched on 411 occasions and rescued 499 people.

The RNLI's divisional inspector for the east, Andrew Ashton, said: "These figures prove once again what an invaluable service the RNLI is providing to people in difficulty around the coast.

"Yet again our volunteers were ready to drop everything whatever the time of day or night, in any weather conditions, to save people in distress.

"It was a very busy year, with some stations recording significant increases on previous years and this can partly be explained by the increase in the number of people deciding to take their holidays close to home, rather than going abroad, due to the economic climate."

The RNLI warned many families were still feeling less financially secure and the charity, which relies totally on donations, predicts this will be the most difficult year for fundraising since the current economic downturn began.

To find out more about this Friday, and to donate, go to the RNLI website