LIFEBOAT crews in the region say they are coping with an increased number of rescues, despite the controversial closure of a station.

Since Teesmouth lifeboat station closed in April last year, neighbouring stations have had to attend more call outs.

But officials at the RNLI said that is just what they were expecting, with a larger area to cover.

Figures for last year released today, show that Hartlepool's all-weather lifeboat performed 35 launches, compared to 12 call-outs in 2005 - the same as the Teesmouth all-weather lifeboat in that period.

A spokeswoman for the RNLI said: "There obviously has been an increase, but that is what we were expecting because it is a larger area to cover.

"But the figures for call-outs and rescues are up right across the country."

Teesmouth appeared among the figures, for the year's first quarter when crews rescued three people and launched on five occasions.

Stations at Redcar and Hartlepool have taken over the former Teesmouth patch and officials said they stand by the decision to close the base and disband its team of volunteers.

Throughout the North-East, the volunteer crews were extremely busy last year.

Sunderland was the busiest station, with 92 launches and 124 people rescued.

The resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was the quietest, with 26 call-outs and 31 rescues.

Nationally, it was the busiest year ever, with 8,377 launches and 8,015 people rescued.

Paul Nicholson, senior helmsman at Sunderland, said: "Compared to last year, we have witnessed a 30 per cent increase in the number of times our crews have been called out."

Andrew Ashton, RNLI divisional inspector in the North, said: "Not only did the volunteers rescue more than 1,000 people, they also gave up huge amounts of their time to take part in vital training.

"Traditionally, the RNLI rescued mainly fishing boats and commercial vessels.

"But today, the diversity of sea-based leisure activities means our crews must devote an increasing amount of time to training for a wide variety of rescue scenarios to ensure they can always operate safely and effectively."