Tenby was the third busiest of Wales' 30 lifeboat stations last year, the RNLI revealed this week.

With 60 launches, a total of 81 people were rescued during the year, compared with 42 in 2013. The station's all-weather lifeboat launched 27 times and the inshore lifeboat 33 times.

In fact, statistics show that the number of people rescued by Welsh RNLI lifeboats in 2014 was at its highest since 2006 - a total of 1,244 people being rescued during the year, an eight per cent increase on the number in 2013.

RNLI lifeguards in Wales also had another busy summer in 2014, responding to 1,261 incidents and assisting 1,376 people.

The busiest all-weather lifeboat in Wales was Angle, with 37 call-outs for their Tamar class lifeboat, plus another eight for their inshore lifeboat in 2014. Long searches and tow-in operations meant the Angle crew spent more time at sea responding to emergencies than any other Welsh crew, with 536 hours spent on call-out operations.

Cardigan RNLI inshore lifeboat launched more times than any of the other inshore lifeboats in West Wales - a total of 43 times and 25 of those were in the hours of darkness.

Nicola Davies, RNLI community incident reduction manager, said: "We are definitely seeing more people out and about visiting the beautiful Welsh coastline, whether to walk the coastal paths or take part in more adventurous activities.

"Our message to the public has always been to visit the coast as a group, rather than go it alone. It seems our advice is hitting home. Whilst previously people may have chosen to take part in activities alone, they are now thinking twice and considering how going to the coast as a group is far safer. Consequently, more people were rescued than ever before.

"Instead of attempting to bring themselves to safety, people are recognising the need to dial 999 much quicker and as a result our volunteer crews have been exceptionally busy."

Philip Davies, West Wales RNLI Lifeguard manager, added: "The busiest beach in West Wales last summer was Newgale North in Pembrokeshire, where the lifeguards responded to 57 incidents and assisted a total of 65 people over the season. Lifeguards might have responded to fewer incidents last year compared to 2013, but a big part of our work on the beach is prevention - providing the public with local safety advice to help them avoid getting into trouble when they visit the coast."

Of the 1,076 Welsh lifeboat launches in 2014, 584 were to leisure craft and 388 were to people requiring assistance. Machinery failure remains the most common cause of a lifeboat launch, with 230 launches of this nature in 2014. The RNLI advises and encourages people to check their equipment before setting off, especially if it has not been used for long periods.

People becoming cut off by the tide was also a common reason for the launch of a lifeboat, with 130 call-outs to this type of incident during the year.

Nicola Davies added: "The big tides of 2014 coincided with some lovely weather so people ventured to areas they possibly would not have discovered previously. By exploring that little bit further we have seen incidents of people getting cut off by the tide and requiring the help of our RNLI crews. We would encourage people to always check the weather and tides before venturing out.

"There is still some work to be done in educating people to recognise the dangers, as our role is very much about prevention in addition to saving lives. The coastal safety team are working hard to look at the areas for concern and work on a very local level to identify what the issues are and how we can address them."