New Brighton RNLI's £135,000 rescue hovercraft Hurley Spirit will be officially named on Saturday by its donor Kay Hurley.

The inshore rescue craft - the fifth in the RNLI fleet - will play a vital role in lifesaving operations on the mudflats of the Mersey and Dee estuaries, reaching casualties in area where traditional lifeboats cannot operate.

Mrs Hurley, from Oxfordshire, also donated the RNLI's first hovercraft to Morecambe lifeboat station in 2002.

She visited New Brighton when she learned about RNLI plans to place a hovercraft at the station. But she collapsed by the lifeboat and had to be given oxygen by a senior crew member.

Mrs Hurley said: "I was so impressed by the speed with which he came to my assistance and the dedication, professionalism and good humour of all the RNLI volunteers at New Brighton, that I decided I would like to fund the hovercraft."

Since receiving the hovercraft in October last year crew members have undergone intensive training at New Brighton and the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset.

RNLI chairman Admiral Sir Jock Slater will accept the craft from Mrs Hurley before placing it in the care of New Brighton lifeboat station, represented by lifeboat operations manager Peter Shillinglaw.

Mr Shillinglaw said: "Hurley Spirit is now a vital part of the search and rescue cover along this stretch of coastline. We can operate on sandbanks and mudflats from Rhyl in North Wales up to Lytham St Annes."