Exmouth RNLI has received a new piece of rescue equipment - and it’s already been put to work saving lives.

The Tooltrak tractor and launching trolley (pictured above) has been custom-built to carry the inshore lifeboat George Bearman.

The tractor allows the boat to be carried over the beach before being launched, as its rubber tracks prevent it being bogged down in the sand.

The new tractor’s first rescue came when a man was reported to be stumbling around waist deep in the estuary.

The inshore lifeboat was deployed, and rescued the man, who said he had been out fishing and had been caught out by the incoming tide.

He was returned to shore, and checked over by waiting ambulance crews while the inshore lifeboat was returned to base by the waiting Tooltrak.