Teddington RNLI 21st busiest in the country

New figures have revealed that Teddington RNLI is one of the busiest in the country.

Crew members at Teddington, Chiswick, Tower Bridge and Gravesend launched their lifeboats 884 times last year.

In 2012, 270 people were rescued, with over 2,000 hours spent on the water.

Teddington – which relies entirely on a crew of volunteers - was ranked number 21 out of the 236 stations in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Of the 884 launches carried out in 2012 by lifeboats from Chiswick, Tower, Teddington and Gravesend, 592 were in response to reports of individuals in danger in or near the water.

Of these, 364 launches were to people suspected to have deliberately put themselves in danger or harm's way.