A lifeboat crew member celebrated 20 years of rescues when he received a long service award.

Paul Jarvis, of West Street, Queenborough, who volunteers at the Sheerness station, was recognised at a ceremony with his family and colleagues at Sheerness Golf Club on Friday.

In two decades of service there have been many call outs to vessels in distress but one that sticks in his mind was a yacht called Tango which was stranded on sand banks in the Thames Estuary.

The only person on board was a woman who was making her first voyage but was caught in a bad storm.

He said: “I remember it distinctly because we launched and there was thunder and lightening at the time. It seemed like quite a good shout to me because she was in desperate need of help.

“She was obviously very frightened but she wasn’t injured.”

When he joined, he was working as an electrical engineer at Sheerness steelworks but after he was made redundant in 2002, his experience with the RNLI helped him to get a job as a deckhand on the tugs in the docks.

He has since worked his way up to tug master.

The 53-year-old originally decided to sign up after taking a tour of the lifeboat station.

He said: “I have always had an interest in all things maritime and a friend of mine was on the lifeboat crew and he used to speak about it and I got the idea about joining from that really.

“I always assumed that you would have to be a fisherman or someone who had been to sea to get on the crew but I was told that wasn’t the case.”

Mr Jarvis was promoted to second coxswain in 1998, below the coxswain, Robin Castle, who is also the mechanic.

In 2011 he was made the station training co-ordinator and he now makes sure new recruits are fully prepared.

He added that new members are always sought-after and anyone who is interested in joining can arrange a look around the station by calling 01795 664868.