A Kent lifeboat station is one of the busiest coastal areas in the UK and Ireland, it's been revealed.

Only Southend had more lifeboat launches between June and August this year, according to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) summer figures.

With 49 potential rescues in those three months, that is a staggering 25% - or 10 launches - up on the same time last year.

But the River Thames and Chiswick stations in London share the glory for inland launches, with 160 and 73 respectively.

Ramsgate's increase was accounted for entirely by Ramsgate’s inshore Atlantic 75 class lifeboat, Bob Turnbull, with callouts for the all-weather Trent class lifeboat, Esme Anderson, remained steady at 19 for both years.

Overall in Kent, total launch figures were slightly down on last year, a 1.7% fall from 176 to 173 launches.

The most noticeable drop of around a quarter was experienced by Whitstable, with callouts down from 41 to 28.

These numbers follow the trend for the wider RNLI, where total launches fell two percent compared to the 2011 figures, from 3,633 to 3,575. This is probably due to the rainy weather at the beginning of the summer.

Andrew Ashton, RNLI Divisional Inspector for the East, said: "Apart from a noticeable change for Ramsgate and Whitstable, elsewhere in Kent the year-on-year changes were small, meaning it was pretty much business as usual for our volunteers.

"Inshore lifeboats are able to operate closer to the coast – including in rocky and shallow areas – and are therefore more likely to be called out to summer water users such as swimmers and people on inflatables. This could explain the increased call on the inshore lifeboat this summer at Ramsgate.

"During the heatwave weekend of 18-19 August, the inshore lifeboat alone launched five times in two days."