A coastal rescue team has had its busiest summer on record - clocking more than 60 callouts in June, July and August.
The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (TVLB), which responds to emergency incidents in North Tyneside, has sent lifesavers to 62 incidents during the last three months - following last year being the busiest on record with 150 callouts. TVLB is well on its way to seeing another record year, with 113 callouts so far with almost four months of the year left to go.
Though none of the summer months were a record on their own, the rescue service saw 18 calls in June, 20 in July and 24 in August. In mid-August, there was an increased number of lifeboat callouts for the service due to the sea fret which enveloped the coast despite clear and sunny skies further inland.
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The final week of the summer holidays was less busy, with just two calls to support Northumbria Police. One required TVLB to attend a police incident in Whitley Bay, where they located one casualty and brought them to safety before passing them into the care of the force's officers.
The second was to support the Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team at a police incident in South Tyneside on Saturday evening. As seven brigade members made their way south across the Tyne, they were stood down.
Peter Lilley, TVLB captain and secretary, said the service responds to numerous calls, but the two most common reasons were dealing with people in crisis and those who have had a misadventure. For the latter, Peter said: "A lot of it comes down to not knowing the coastline or not knowing the risks of visiting the coast."
"We have people who get cut off by the tide because they're not familiar with the fact tides come in and out, or you get someone who is trying an activity such as surfing or paddleboarding and they've gone beyond their means or have not fully considered the wind or sea conditions that day."
The sunny weather and the accessibility of the coast have also played a part in TVLB's busy summer. Peter added: "We've had a really good summer weather wise, it barely rained which is strange for North Tyneside.
"We're always a busy team and have had a few peaks during the heatwave. There were a couple of days when the sun was out and that brought additional people down on top of the busy numbers we've already had, as we have a really nice accessible coastline at North Tyneside.
Read more: Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade has busiest year on record helping people in trouble along coast
Read more: See the sea fret that covered the North East coast in mid-August
"There's a lot of publicity about our coastline at the moment and that leads to an increase in people coming. More people goes hand in hand with us having more callouts."
Sadly, the other main reason for callouts is people in crisis. Peter says that these are generally people from the area, and as well as this being a year-round issue the service has to deal with, the current cost of living crisis indicates there's no sign of this letting up.
He finished: "As all emergency services have had, we have a lot of calls for people in crisis. There's no real indication that's going to change in terms of the national picture of the challenges people are facing from the cost of living.
"Because of issues linked to that, I think our callout rates are going to stay at a high level."
Peter says it's impossible to predict whether the number of callouts this year will surpass last year's record of 150, but the service is on course. He finished: "We're on course for it and we're really weather driven.
"If we have a reasonable winter which allows people to continue to access the coast then I think we'll have a high rate of callouts continuing. We need a lot of callouts to pass 150 so it's not certain we will do, but the signs are there that we'll be close to it."
This weekend is set to be busy for TVLB but for an altogether different reason. On Saturday, the Watch House Team will take part in the annual heritage open days even, offering guided tours and insights into the area's maritime history between 10am and 3pm at the TVLB museum on Spanish Battery.
Volunteers will also be located throughout Tynemouth area to carry out street collections on Saturday. And following the busy summer, 15 runners from the service will take part in the Great North Run on Sunday in order to raise money for the charity, which is completely funded by donations.
Have you ever been rescued by the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade or the Coastguard? Let us know!
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