MORE than 800 people in Scotland were rescued by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) last year, according to the charity's official statistics.

A total of 1006 lifeboats were launched in Scotland in 2011, an average of 20 a week, with 847 people being rescued.

This compares with 2010, which saw 1011 launches and 916 people rescued.

The RNLI's divisional inspector in Scotland, Paul Jennings, praised the volunteer crews for their dedication – even in hurricane-force winds.

He said: "The annual statistics reveal once again the devotion to duty by our volunteer crews throughout Scotland.

"It is particularly notable that during December we had four spells of stormy weather with winds from force 10 to 12 and yet our crews still launched, as they always do whatever the weather. On December 8 lifeboats launched at Buckie in hurricane conditions, while Troon, Oban and Peterhead also launched in gale to severe gales for a variety of emergencies."

Several Scots crewmen were recognised for their bravery in 2011, including Darren Crowe from the St Abbs station, who received the RNLI's bronze medal for gallantry after he saved a man from drowning off the coast of Berwickshire.

The busiest lifeboat station in Scotland was Broughty Ferry, on the outskirts of Dundee, where crews had a record-breaking year with a total of 104 lifeboats being launched.

The busiest inshore station was at Queensferry, where 62 services were launched and 117 people – including 13 under-18s – were rescued.

Scotland's busiest month was July, which saw 145 incidents.

Almost 17% of call-outs were due to machinery failures, but there was also an increase in the number of people who ended up in danger after being cut off from the tide – up from 24 in 2010 to 35 in 2011.

Boats with fouled propellers resulted in 63 call-outs, against 44 in 2010.