LIFEBOAT crews in Walton were being shown the latest enhancements to the RNLI’s pager system when they were interrupted by a real-life call out.

Walton and Frinton RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat crew were just 15 minutes into the demonstration when they were interrupted by a call out to help police and coastguards search for a person who was suspected to be in difficulty in the sea near Walton’s Naze last Wednesday.

Crew member Miranda Rayner said: “Given that the sea was exceptionally calm the coxswain decided to use the station’s boarding boat as well as the all-weather lifeboat.

“The smaller boats were able to search close to the beach and the all-weather lifeboat searched further off.

"After a thorough search the person was located ashore.”

The lifeboat crew returned to station and continued their meeting as planned.

Mrs Rayner added: “We were pleased to be able to work with our colleagues from the other agencies on what turned out to be a successful operation.

“The fact that we were already assembled at the boat house for our meeting meant that we were able to respond extremely quickly to the request for our help.”