LIFEBOAT volunteers have been praised for their work from the High Sheriff of North Yorkshire during a visit at the weekend.

Major Peter Scrope DL, and his wife Penny, were given a guided tour of the Redcar lifeboat station and had the opportunity to speak to some of the volunteers who launch and crew the RNLI lifeboats.

He said: “We were deeply impressed by the professionalism of the Redcar crew and station officials, who give up so much of their time to save lives without any form of remuneration.”

The visitors were treated to a demonstration launch and recovery of the RNLI Atlantic 85 class lifeboat Leicester Challenge III.

Dave Cocks, deputy launching authority, said: “As far as we can tell, this is the first time a High Sheriff has visited the lifeboat station at Redcar.

“Both he and his wife were genuinely interested in what we do. He was particularly impressed with the work we do with young people, teaching them about sea safety and the role of the RNLI in the local community.”