HOYLAKE Lifeboat Station heralded a new era of life-saving with the arrival of its new state-of-the-art vessel today.

More than 100 people watched as the £2milliion Shannon class all-weather lifeboat arrived this morning at the end of a five-day journey from the charity's headquarters in Poole, Dorset.

The Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood, replaces the station's current RNLI Mersey class lifeboat, Lady of Hilbre, which has operated in Hoylake since 1990. In that time, the lifeboat has carried out 237 rescues, saving 263 people.

Designed by an in-house RNLI team, Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood is the most agile all-weather lifeboat in the charity’s fleet and has been developed with the safety and welfare of RNLI volunteer crews as a key priority.

Once afloat, the Shannon is capable of speeds of 25 knots, 50 percent faster than the current lifeboat.

Crew members have already undergone specialist training to prepare for the new lifeboat but following her arrival, there will be a further week of intensive training before the lifeboat is put on service and the Mersey withdrawn.

Coxswain Dave Whiteley told the Globe: "The crew has spent the last few weeks training up for it and there will be another week's training at station.

"Hopefully by the middle of next week the crew will be over training, passed out and the Lady of Hilbre will sail off into the distance and this will be our new operational boat. We're looking forward to it.

"This boat is a little bit bigger, 50 per cent faster and the crew are a lot safer on board, all strapped in seats.

"It's a great manoeuvrable, a lot more manoeuvrable than the Mersey one was. It's probably the most manoeuvrable boat in the fleet at the moment."

The new lifeboat has been funded in part by a generous legacy left to the charity by Miss Paulette Micklewood, from Oxford, and is named Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood after her father.

The new £1.5M Launch and Recovery rig which accompanies the Shannon has also been funded by a legacy, from local businessman Roland Hough, and will be named in his honour.

This bespoke piece of equipment is capable of operating on the most challenging of beaches due to its all-track drive system.

It operates as a 'mobile slipway' and will make the lifeboat launch and recovery process both faster and safer.

John Curry, Hoylake Lifeboat operations manager, said: "The arrival of the new lifeboat will bring Hoylake into a new era of lifesaving as the response times of the station will be dramatically improved.

"The Supacat launch and recovery vehicle travels at ten miles an hour to the water’s edge and, once afloat, the Shannon is capable of speeds of 25 knots – 50 per cent faster than our current lifeboat.

"These factors will enable the Hoylake RNLI crews to arrive at the casualty that much faster and increase the chances of saving the lives of those who find themselves in peril on the sea."