Blyth lifeboat base construction starts

The lifeboat base is due to be completed by April 2013

Work has started on a £700,000 project to build a lifeboat station on the Northumberland coast.

It will replace the existing Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) base in Blyth.

Currently the lifeboat has to be moved to the launch site by quadbike. The new building will mean it can be manoeuvred to the launch site by hand.

It will include a crew training room, workshop, changing facilities and a shop.

At the moment the volunteers are based in a building dating back to the 1920s and the D class inshore lifeboat is housed in a garage next door.

The new building is directly opposite the davit used to launch the lifeboat into the harbour.

RNLI divisional inspector, Andy Clift, said: "The new lifeboat station will bring everything they need under one roof."

Construction is due to start in the summer and it is hoped the work will be complete by April 2013.