NEW figures have revealed that thousands of people were rescued by lifeboat crews and lifeguards across Cumbria and the North West. 

In 2015, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's lifeboats across the region, including a crew stationed at Roa Island, launched 954 times, rescuing 903 people. The RNLI's Flood Rescue Team rescued 400 people from floods in Cumbria over three days in December and lifeguards dealt with 1,721 incidents, assisting 2,065 people.

In the north of England, the most common cause of lifeboat callout in 2015 was to boats with machinery failure, leading to 214 rescue launches.

People in the water accounted for 129 launches while people cut off by the tide resulted in 76 launches.

Across the UK and Ireland in 2015, RNLI lifeboat crews launched 8,228 times and rescued 7,973, of which 348 were lives saved. Lifeguards dealt with 15,714 incidents, assisting 18,181 people of which 94 were lives saved.