THE new lifeguard system for the Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren beaches came into operation during the bank holiday weekend.

The service has now been taken over by the RNLI and, although the beaches were busy with crowds of visitors and locals taking advantage of the hot weather, the lifeguards were luckily not called into action.

But they were kept busy offering safety advice to bathers, and their presence was reassuring for families on the beaches.

The teams started their duties on Saturday, and will be on site until this weekend, the end of the school half-term.

They return for the peak summer weeks from July 4 to September 6, seven days a week.

Teignbridge Council used to run the lifeguard service, but had difficulty in recruiting enough qualified staff, and the RNLI stepped in with their own highly trained professionals.

'Our role is to save lives on UK beaches, not only through rescues, but also by educating beach users in the safest way to enjoy the beach to prevent incidents,' said an RNLI spokesman.

'About 95 per cent of our work is preventive, and this includes advice on potential hazards, such as tidal cut off points, using inflatable toys, and also moving the warning flags as conditions change, and monitoring people bathing or surfing.

'If anybody is in difficulties, the lifeguards will be ready to carry out a rescue, and administer appropriate first aid.'

At the start of the day, the lifeguards place the red and yellow flags and warning signs, so that the risk of swimming is minimised.

Last year, the RNLI lifeguards responded to 8,423 incidents on south west beaches, helping 9,800 people, and saving 39 lives.

Rory Smith, the RNLI lifeguard supervisor, described the first weekend on duty as 'pretty busy'.

'The sun was very welcome. There were more than 2,000 people on the Warren, and about 1,500 on Teignmouth beach.

'The lifeguards dealt with a number of minor first aid incidents, and missing children – one was gone for about 45 minutes before being found safe and well.

'They were mainly busy issuing safety advice to beach users, and ensuring everybody was safely bathing between the red and yellow flags.'