THE country’s busiest coastal lifeboat station at Poole is set to lose its all-weather lifeboat in three years’ time.

RNLI trustees have accepted the recommendations of its operations committee to strip Poole of its Tyne class all-weather lifeboat and replace it with a D class inshore lifeboat.

Poole is the busiest coastal station in terms of launches with 140 emergency call-outs in 2011, of which 110 were by inshore lifeboat crews and 30 by the all-weather lifeboat.

Volunteer lifeboat crews notched up more than 2,500 operational sea hours last year and coxswain Jonathan Clark told the Echo recently: “It will be a very sad day for Poole if the all-weather lifeboat is taken away from the busiest coastal station.”

Poole’s 18-knot Tyne class all-weather lifeboat, City of Sheffield, will be withdrawn in 2015 when a new 25-knot Shannon class all-weather lifeboat is introduced at Swanage, and a 25-knot Severn class at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight will also cover offshore Poole Bay.

The D class “work horse” lifeboat of the RNLI is capable of 25 knots and will complement the Atlantic 85 lifeboat, the Sgt Bob Martin, based at Poole.

Rear Admiral John Tolhurst, chairman of the RNLI operations committee said: “The RNLI’s priority is to save lives at sea and this new arrangement will allow our volunteers to respond to people in trouble at sea quickly, effectively and safely.

“Change is never comfortable, but I can assure you we do not take decisions lightly.

“Our analysis during the coast review clearly showed that inshore lifeboats are best suited to the demands put on Poole Lifeboat Station.

“A detailed analysis of the station’s launches shows that the vast majority of services in Poole could have been successfully dealt with by inshore lifeboats.”

The station could lose some of its crew due to the change, as the maximum age for crew volunteers on the inshore lifeboats is 45, which can be extended to 50 if they pass a full medical.

Richard Lacey, chairman of Poole Harbour Commissioners and a local sailor, said: “There will be no effect at all on the port.

“If anything, it doubles the coverage for leisure boats in the harbour.”