The volunteer crew at Burnham-on-Crouch responded to a mayday distress call yesterday (Tuesday 9 November), but found no stranded people upon investigation.

The team launched the Atlantic Class lifeboat Tony & Robert Britt, which is one of the fastest in the RNLI fleet, after being alerted by H.M. Coastguard to the "garbled mayday distress call" shortly before 12pm yesterday.

A spokesperson for Burnham RNLI said: "The Atlantic Class lifeboat 'Tony & Robert Britt' was launched and proceeded to search the River Crouch between Burnham Marina and North Fambridge Yacht Club, stopping several times on the way to make enquiries with various vessels.

"Despite their enquiries nothing was seen or found, so the volunteer RNLI crew from Burnham-on-Crouch were eventually stood down and returned to station."

The crew is currently seeking more volunteers to help save lives at sea.

Residents can get involved both afloat and onshore, as the team is looking for volunteers in all roles - operational, support and fundraising.

Click here for more information.

If you are interested, email Peter Harris, volunteer press officer at Burnham RNLI, at [email protected] for more details.