Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station has just taken on two new volunteer recruits whose fathers and grandfathers were lifeboatmen before them.

Bobby Mole, 17, is the third generation of Moles to volunteer with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He now volunteers alongside his dad, Kevin, the Tynemouth RNLI Station Mechanic, who himself joined the RNLI because of his dad, Douggie.

Chris Nugent, who has also just been enlisted as a volunteer crewman, is following in the footsteps of his dad, Michael. Michael is the Tynemouth RNLI station Coxswain whose father, Geoff is also former crew and now serves as Tynemouth Lifeboat Deputy Launching Authority.

Bobby, who was christened aboard the lifeboat, attended his first "shout" or callout earlier this week after a trawler started taking on water ten miles off Newbiggin-on-Sea. Three fishermen were rescued.

He said: "It was hard when my pager went off at 6am but it was worth it when we got a good outcome. I'm really proud to be following a family tradition."

Chris, who's also 17, is from a fishing family and equally proud to be part of the crew. His dad, Michael, 41, said: "We have a family boat, the Adventure, which operates out of North Shields in the winter and Scotland in the summer so we've always understood the needs of the fishing community and how valuable the RNLI is to them and to others."

There've been some dramatic changes in the RNLI's work since Chris and Bobby's grandfathers first took to the seas.

Kevin Mole, whose father Douggie was also a mechanic with the RNLI at Seahouses in Northumberland said: "When my dad started it was in the old Liverpool class boats that still had sails.

"They had engines but also a sail and oars and would have reached no more than about six or seven knots, and that was downhill with the wind behind you!

"We've progressed on to boats we have now which cost £2 million and do 25 knots.

"Communications have advanced incredibly too so we now have global positioning systems and other electronic equipment such as computerised charts, radar, VHF and HF radio.

"When my dad started you didn't always know what was going on with a rescue because you couldn't talk to the casualty. A lot of it was done with flags or the old Aldis signalling lamps, which we can still use, but rarely.

"The speed of the boats now means we can get there so much quicker and we have good direction finding equipment. We can direction find a VHF radio signal and that can cut down a search that could possibly take hours, but we can't do that with mobile phones."

What also heartens Kevin and the rest of the 30-strong Tynemouth crew is the continuing public support they receive. "It astounds me," said Kevin.

"I've been with the RNLI for over 30 years and the support we get still amazes me. Without the support of the general public we'd be sunk. It's second to none."