SEAFRONT staff who have helped save at least 12 lives in a year have received national praise.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s seafront officers have been highlighted in good practice guidance for their work to prevent suicides by the Local Government Association for the level of training and support they receive.

In 2016, the seafront team helped to rescue 12 vulnerable people from the sea while many more with mental health problems also received help.

Seafront officers are among 70 local services to have received suicide prevention training to help identify people at risk, learning how to reach out to distressed individuals and put them in contact with further support.

Officers are also trained to save lives at sea using equipment such as rescue boards and tubes, and work closely with Sussex Police and NHS emergency services.

The seafront team training is part of a wider suicide prevention programme in the city with the authority’s public health department teaming up with partners in the NHS and voluntary organisations through a suicide prevention strategy group.

The partnership also involves city charity Grassroots Suicide Prevention which has produced the StayAlive app, aimed at people considering suicide and people concerned about someone else, which has now been downloaded more than 20,000 times.

Other projects include awareness-raising in schools and among taxi drivers, and an innovation fund to encourage new ideas to prevent suicide and reduce self-harm.

The seafront team patrol eight miles of the city’s coastline, which is deemed a high-risk area for suicides, 365 days a year with a 4X4 vehicle and quad bikes.

From May to September the team is also supported by 30 seasonal lifeguards.

Seafront officer Roger De Casanove said: “It’s becoming increasingly common for us to be called out to people in these sorts of situations.

“We’re often the first on the scene because we can be anywhere on the seafront in less than eight minutes.

“We keep an eye out during our regular patrols and we’re in contact with the police, ambulance service and the public.”

Councillor Alan Robins, seafront services’ lead member, said: “Visitors see our officers patrolling in their yellow and red uniforms, helping people have a safe day out by the seaside, but our team is often involved in difficult and sometimes tragic circumstances so we really appreciate the LGA recognising them for their excellent good practice.”