AN actor and sailor has reminisced about his childhood adventures on the Essex coast as part of a new audio series.

Griff Rhys Jones has just appeared on the RNLI's 200 Voices podcast, which launched on August 18 in celebration of the charity's bicentenary.

During the episode Griff shared stories of his time in north Essex as a youngster, including when his father once aided the RNLI lifeboat crew to save a man’s life.

Griff said: "I had been in West Mersea when the marine went up.

"The signal went up, there was a big bang and suddenly people were rushing down and getting into a big boat.

“What was notable about it was somebody had gone out in a dingy, it would’ve been very very cold, and they’d capsized.

"They had to get the lifeboat out to get them back, which they did, and then my father was recruited to help the casualty who had virtually drowned because he was a chest physician, a doctor.

“All I remember is my father, he organised a ladder to come and turned him [the casualty] upside down and tied him to the ladder so they could drain his lungs.

"They gave him artificial respiration to save his life. It was rather a bizarre thing to see your dad suddenly in action."

As part of the RNLI's new podcast series a new episode will be released every day for 200 days.

RNLI strategic content manager, Rory Stamp said: "We knew we had to do something really special to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, which is such a monumental milestone.

"200 Voices is the first in a programme of activity planned to mark the RNLI’s bicentenary as we celebrate the world-class lifesaving service we provide today, remember our remarkable history and aim to inspire the future generations of lifesavers and supporters as we move through into the next 200 years."

To find out more about the RNLI’s bicentenary, visit RNLI.org/200.