VOLUNTEERS who have helped run the RNLI shop at the harbourside in Lyme Regis have more than 50,000 reasons to be cheerful this Christmas.

That’s the number of items sold during the year and it puts the Lyme shop as the second most successful in the country.

At a festive lunch for the almost 40-strong volunteer team at the Hunters Lodge Inn at Raymonds Hill, shop manager Brian Cursley thanked them for their efforts and revealed some of the statistics proving that the Lyme Regis base is a real success story.

“Takings topped £160,000 and 25,000 people had popped into the shop to keep the till busy,” said Mr Cursley.

The tiny Lyme Regis shop is second only to the RNLI’s operation in Whitby which also includes a museum.