Blyth RNLI lifeboat dedicated to volunteer's parents

The new D class vessel cost £39,000

A new Northumberland lifeboat dedicated to the memory of a former volunteer's parents has gone into service.

Dr Patricia Kind, of Alnwick, paid for the new £39,000 D class vessel which is based in Blyth.

It is called the Alan And Amy after her parents and replaces the Jennie B, which carried out 133 rescues during eight years' service.

As a child, Dr Kind helped haul a rescue boat ashore in Norfolk and was also a volunteer at an RNLI museum.

Blyth RNLI lifeboat operations manager, John Scott, said his team was delighted with the new vessel.

Mr Scott said: "The Alan And Amy is a newer version of our previous lifeboat, which has served us very well.

"Without donations like this, our charity would be unable to carry out its vital role and everyone at the station is very grateful to Dr Kind for her generous gift.

"We are looking forward to welcoming her at one of our forthcoming training exercises so that she can see the lifeboat in action."

Dr Kind, who worked as a volunteer for the RNLI Grace Darling Museum in Bamburgh, said she remembered helping haul the Sheringham lifeboat up the beach after a rescue when she was a "small girl".

She said: "I always visit lifeboat stations when I'm at the coast and am full of admiration for the RNLI's volunteer crews and the work of the charity."