Penarth volunteer lifeboat crew launched four times this weekend.

The first call-out of the weekend occurred on Saturday at 1pm, when the 45-foot sailing yacht Dione, with four people on board, ran aground at the edge of the dredged channel of the Cefn-y-Wrach mudbank.

After initially attending in the D-class lifeboat to ensure all four people aboard were safe and well and securing the vessel's anchor, the volunteer crew returned to station.

The lifeboat then launched later on as the tide was rising, to be on hand to provide assistance as the yacht refloated.

The yacht was successfully refloated after the lifeboat crew laid an anchor to help pull her off on the rising tide.

At 4:15pm, just as the crew were leaving the station after washing down the lifeboat, the pagers went off again.

Milford Haven Coastguard requested the lifeboat crew to attend a fishing vessel which had broken down outside Cardiff Bay.

As the crew arrived on scene in the Atlantic 85 lifeboat, the fishing vessel had begun to drift out before deploying its anchor. The lifeboat crew set up a tow and brought the vessel safely into Cardiff Bay.

The third launch happened on Saturday night, as the crew were called to aid a casualty vessel off the entrance to Penarth/Cardiff Barrage.

Finally, the D Class lifeboat was launched at 1am on Monday morning, responding to reports of a person in the water at Mermaid Quay, in Cardiff Bay.

The person was subsequently recovered by the Fire Service. This was the 4th launch in 12 hours for the volunteer crew.