Roger Rolph was the station controller of Winterton-on-Sea Coastwatch, a volunteer coastal safety organisation.

A former insurance broker with no formal marine background, Mr Rolph took on the role of controller of Winterton's Coastwatch post, part of the Sea Safety Group, after it was set up in 2005.

The group's network of volunteer stations stretches along the east coast from Dundee in Scotland down to Pakefield in Suffolk, monitoring distress channels and reporting to HM Coastguard.

The station and its work

Winterton on Sea's Coastwatch tower, pictured in 2015. (Image: Archant)

The Winterton post operated seven hours a day, seven days a week, weather permitting, with volunteers watching not just for vessels in difficulty but swimmers, beachgoers and wildlife.

The waters off Winterton are notorious for dangerous rip tides.

Under Mr Rolph's leadership, the team - a colourful mix of ex-police officers, an air traffic controller, a physicist, a retired headteacher, a chef, two tour bus drivers and even the inventor of an electronic criminal monitoring tag - were instrumental in saving lives over the years.

Andrew Sharples and Roger Rolph in the old Winter Coast........

© Eastern Daily Press