THIS year has been the busiest in Minehead Lifeboat station’s 115-year history.

By Christmas, the volunteer crew had responded to 44 emergency calls since last January – ten more than the previous highest number.

Meanwhile, local fund-raising on behalf of the RNLI is also on course to set new records, with well over £40,000 received from events and donations and sales in the station’s shop nudging the £50,000 mark for the first time.

Many of the calls were to people who had become trapped by the tide, leading to the station starting its own safety awareness campaign to highlight the dangers posed by the second highest tidal range in the world.

A full round-up of the RNLI’s busy year off the Minehead coast is in this week’s Free Press.