An appeal launched to raise £31,000 for a new lifeboat in Looe has raised more than twice that amount. Almost £70,000 has been collected for the new D-Class inshore lifeboat for Looe, which has been named after teenager Ollie Naismith who died in a car accident in 2009.

The new lifeboat was launched on Friday, November 19, which would have been Ollie's 20th birthday.

RNLI fundraising and communications manager for the South West Donna Robson said: 'The appeal and the lifeboat are seen as a memorial to a vibrant and bright young teenager whose life was cut tragically short by a terrible accident. As a result, many people have worked tremendously hard to raise the money needed and have exceeded the target set. This is great news for our charity as it means we can now fund the lifeboat, its trailer, the tractor that will be used to launch it and the running costs associated with the lifeboat for several years to come. I would like to pay tribute to the fundraising committee at Looe RNLI who have spearheaded this appeal and worked extremely hard to make it the success it is, and to the hundreds of other people who have donated their time to bring in money, through events, challenges and financial gifts.'

RNLI lifeboat operations manager Dave Haines said: 'Our volunteer crew have been very busy this week training on this new, more advanced lifeboat. We now look forward to using her to help save lives at sea.'

The new lifeboat is the latest design and will be faster, and fitted out with high-tech navigation equipment.