The crew of the St Peter Port lifeboat were awarded the Pride of Guernsey award for “Emergency Hero of the Year”, sponsored by Rossborough at a presentation including Lt-Governor Vice-Admiral Ian Corder, his wife Lady Corder and Deputy Bailiff Richard McMahon.

The inaugural awards ceremony, presented by James Bentley and hosted by Andy and Jo Priaulx, saw the Guernsey Press office completely transformed into a spectacular venue, fitted-out with state-of the-art lighting and visuals.

Nominated by the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club, it said the crew ‘regularly put to sea in difficult and very challenging sea conditions to protect and save lives. The members of the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club appreciate this voluntary service immensely and it gives us great comfort knowing that we have such an excellent crew in Guernsey available if things should go wrong.

‘Each and every member of the RNLI Guernsey crew is selfless, willing to put their life on the line and step forward if required to serve. The recent rescue of passengers from the Trident ferry in very foggy conditions is but one example of many.’

The crew agreed they wished to give the prize money to Channel islands Air Search as a contribution to their new aeroplane.