AN ELDERLY woman from Oxfordshire has presented New Brighton lifeboat station with a £135,000 hovercraft.

Kay Hurley MBE has now donated two inshore rescue hovercrafts to the RNLI, the first of which arrived in Morecambe in 2002, and was used in the search for 26 cockle pickers in February.

New Brighton's hovercraft, the fifth in the RNLI's fleet, will play a vital role in life saving operations on the mudflats of the Mersey and Dee estuaries reaching areas where traditional lifeboats cannot operate.

With running costs of £110 million a year, the RNLI relies on donations, legacies and gifts such as this to fund the life saving organisation.

Mrs Hurley said: "I was born in the middle of England, as far away from the sea as you can get, and when I first heard about the RNLI I thought it was magical - the boats and the crews just seemed to appear from nowhere when they were needed.

"Now I'm older and I know more about the RNLI but the magic remains. The volunteer crews are wonderful and I'm so pleased to be able to help them in this way."

The hovercraft which can travel at a top speed of 30 knots and carries three crew has been named Hurley Spirit.

It has been stationed in New Brighton following an investigation into whether the region required the craft and if so, where it should be located.

The RNLI's hovercraft operations manager, Tony Stankus, said: "There have been a significant number of incidents in the area where a hovercraft could have helped greatly with difficult rescues.

"All along this coastline there are vast areas of exposed mud at low tide where there is a real danger of people getting caught out. Without a hovercraft, reaching people who are stuck in the mud is much slower and more risky. The hovercraft, manned by highly- trained volunteer crews, is expected to establish itself quickly as a vital resource."

The hovercraft will officially start its service early next year once the intensive training of lifeboat crew to fly it has been completed.

New Brighton lifeboat operations manager, Peter Shillinglaw, said: This area is becoming increasingly popular with tourists, and even more people will be visiting after Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture in 2008.

"The sea, the river and the beaches will be busier than ever and stationing the hovercraft at New Brighton will improve the RNLI's rescue capability along this stretch of coastline, making it a safer place to visit.

"This is an exciting new chapter in the life of New Brighton lifeboat station, and we are extremely grateful to Mrs Hurley for her wonderfully generous donation."