A RNLI volunteer in Burnham was rewarded for his 20 years of service with a commemorative medal at a boat blessing service last week.

Ian Scott, 50, joined the town’s Lifeboat Station after moving to the area 20 years ago, however, his connection with the service began before then.

“I have been sailing most of my life,” he explained. “I grew up in West Mersea and I used to hear the alarms go off when I was younger and I would run down to see the launch. It was very exciting when you are young.

“Then, around 1992, I was racing in the Crouch when our boat ran into problems and we had to be rescued by the lifeboat crew from Burnham RNLI.

“When I moved to Burnham I thought about getting involved with the station and it was actually Dave Nicholls, the new Lifeboat Operations Manager who presented me with my medal last week, who convinced me to get involved and recruited me to the crew.”

Since then, Ian has been a regular member of the crew for the last 20 years and hopes to remain involved in the RNLI in some form even after he is forced to retire from active service in five years’ time.

He said: “It is definitely something I am immensely proud of. These days very few people get to do it, people rarely get to stay in one place for 20 years.

“We have had quite a few members of crew arrive for three or four years and have then had to leave because work or family has taken them away from Burnham.

“I have to retire at 55 so I have five more years of active service left. Then it is likely I will move into the management side of things which is something I would love to do as long as I am still living and working in Burnham.”