A boat rescue team received a £7270 grant in order to keep rivers around Hertfordshire safe.

Hertfordshire Boat Rescue will be using this donation from the government to replace three basket stretchers, 16 torches to improve night operations and to purchase three radios to increase communications to the rescue boats.

Chairman Stuart Foreman said: “This funding will allow the team to replace vital life-saving equipment and to purchase some additional equipment to increase the capability and safety of the team”

Hertfordshire Boat Rescue, which was established 1996, is a voluntary organisation with unpaid volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

The charity relies on donations and grants to “maintain its service to the community” through assisting people needing to be rescued from fast-flowing water or floods.

Alan Massey, chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, added: “These smaller, independent charities are the lifeblood of our communities, playing a vital role in supporting the daily lives of thousands of people across the UK.

“We often need to remind ourselves that these brave women and men may be called at any time of the day or night to assist persons in difficulty. Those persons may be lost or injured, in trouble at sea, or needing to be rescued from fast-flowing water or floods.

“It’s essential that funding like this is available to independent lifeboats so that they have the proper emergency equipment to aid in rescues. This funding will help meet their goals and ease their financial burden.”