The RNLI ‘Respect the Water’ campaign has been officially launched in Conwy with the help of local pubs.

Volunteers at the lifeboat station have distributed ‘Respect the Water’ promotional items for display at public houses around the town to raise awareness of this campaign.

The town’s RNLI station has unreserved support from the local community and in particular from locals pubs within a stone’s throw from the station and from the water.

The idea of the distribution of these promotional items is to hopefully encourage people to think about the specific dangers of being around water after drinking alcohol.

Beer mats, bar runners and pint glasses will promote messages about unexpectedly ending up in the water and the risk of cold water shock.

Volunteers from the station handed over the first items to The Liverpool Arms, which is situated just along the Quay from the station.

Marie Jones, manager of the ‘Liverpool Arms’, which lays on the water’s edge, said: “We are very proud of our local RNLI lifeboat station and the volunteer crew and we are glad to be able to help spread the message.

Tony Chapman-Edwards, of The Albion Ale House, said “The RNLI charity is very important in our local community and we are happy to be able to help spread the Respect the Water message to our locals and visiting customers.”

Ian Lennon, barman at The Bridge Inn said: “We are also very proud to be able to support the RNLI and help spread the safety message to our customers.”

Conwy RNLI volunteers have first-hand experience of the potential risks the cold waters of the UK pose even to the public and even the most experienced people.

Back in January 2015 local yachtsman David Stocks found himself unintentionally in the water at Conwy Marina and was rescued by the lifeboat.

“I was in for 12 minutes and I felt every single second,” he said. “It felt like an incredibly long time.

“At one point I looked at my hands and they were white; there was no life left.

“Everything I had just wanted to drift away and go to sleep. I saw the lifeboat arrive out of the corner of my right eye and the next thing I knew a man from the RNLI was just beside me dragging me out.”

Around 190 people accidentally die at the British and Irish coasts each year, with around half never intending to go into the water in the first place.

Respect the Water is part of the RNLI's work to halve coastal drownings by 2024.

More details can be found at www.respectthewater.com.