CHRISTMAS came 11 months early this year for the crew of the RNLI lifeboat in Lyme Regis and their families.

The life-saving charity chose the town’s crew to feature in a film highlighting the need to stay safe by the water and emphasising how the volunteers are available all year round.

The film features crew member Georgia Robson as she is about to tuck into her Christmas dinner, but her pager goes off and she runs through the streets of Lyme Regis to the lifeboat station.

The lifeboat is launched and the crew ‘rescue’ Seb Cope, one of their colleagues.

Later Georgia discovers that crew members and their families have all turned up at the lifeboat station to have their Christmas dinner and she can finally enjoy hers after responding to the lifeboat shout.

Harrison Bates, the film’s director from the RNLI’s film and image department at their headquarters in Poole, said: “Filming went extremely well and the crew and their families were fantastic.

“We hope the film will stress the need to keep safe by the water, not only at Christmas, and demonstrate how the RNLI’s volunteers are on call all year round.”

It is hoped the film will be screened online and on social media, among other outlets, close to Christmas.