Sussex's lifeboat crews saved nine lives in the past year.

The county’s eight lifeboat crews were launched to 442 rescue missions and Eastbourne lifeboat station was the busiest in the country, launching 120 times and rescuing 131 people.

Overall the crew rescued a total of 453 people, gave 17 people first aid and saved nine lives.

One of the biggest operations of the year was the response to the fire on Eastbourne Pier in July.

Both of Eastbourne’s lifeboats were immediately sent to the fire and the Newhaven and Hastings assisted in the operation to saved most of the seaward end of the pier.

Allen Head, divisional operations manager for the RNLI, said: ‘Yet again our volunteers have had a very busy 12 months. 2014 was the warmest year on record for the UK, but conversely the winter storms of January and February brought damaging winds and inland and coastal flooding.

"The former may well have enticed more people on to our beaches and into the water, while the latter no doubt made conditions worse for anyone on or near the sea.”