Three rescues due to be screened by the BBC, a Christmas film featuring crew and their families and a record £40,000 raised during Lifeboat Week are some of Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat’s highlights of 2019.

The crew are looking back on the year, which included answering 33 emergency calls, a third of which were to people cut off by the tide, with the first two ‘shouts’ of last year being just that in the Charmouth area.

The man at the helm of the lifeboat station, operations manager Nick Marks, said: “Once again teamwork and raining by the crew and tremendous fundraising efforts by the lifeboat supporters group have contributed to a very successful year for our volunteers.

The rescue of two 14-year-old boys being swept to sea from the River Axe in June last year is due to be seen in the BBC’s Saving Lives at Sea series early in the new year.

Video using a helmet camera worn by a crew member shows the boys’ dramatic rescue as they clung to each other at sea.

Senior helm Tim Edwards, who was aboard the lifeboat when the two schoolboys were rescued and who features in the BBC film of the incident, said: “It was generally a safe and successful 2019, but the rescue of those boys will remain with me for many a year.

“It was a wonderful end to an incident that could have been so different. It’s what makes all our volunteer work and training so worthwhile.”

Footage shot during two other ‘shouts’ is also expected to be featured in the series later this year. These are the rescue of two ex-professional sailors whose dingy capsized and the successful search for a woman trapped on cliffs with her two dogs.

Mr Marks added: “We always urge people to check tide times and general conditions when out walking.

“Although the year was largely successful, there was also sadness when an extensive search by our crew, Exmouth lifeboat and the coastguard helicopter failed to find a man who, it transpired, died in the Freshwater Bay area.”

The Lyme Regis Coastguard team had a ‘busy year’ after responding to 65 incidents in 2019.

These ranged from people and dogs stuck on cliffs, people trapped in the mud, missing and vulnerable people searches, people in difficulty in the water, as well as members of the public cut off by the tide.

A spokesman for Lyme Regis Coastguard said: “The Lyme Regis coastguard team would like to thank all our supporters, followers and our flank teams at Beer and West Bay. The other emergency services, especially our colleagues at Lyme Regis lifeboat, have all helped and supported us during 2019.

“Also, a big thanks to all the local businesses along the coast that have supplied the teams with snacks, as well as hot and cold drinks throughout the year - these really do contribute to the effectiveness of the team.

“The team would like to wish you all a happy and safe 2020.”