St Davids bid a fond goodbye to its old lifeboat, the Garside, on Friday, as the old lifeboat launched for the last time, accompanied by her replacement the Norah Wortley.

The Garside arrived in St Davids in 1988. In her 28 years of service she has launched 343 times to emergencies at sea, saved 79 lives and rescued 35 people.

Memorable launches include the rescue of the fishing vessel Stephanie Jane in winds gusting up to 70 knots; the recovery of the 1,500 tonne tanker, Blackfriars and the 14 hour rescue of the trawler Western Belle.

On Friday volunteer crew members, both old and new, said farewell to the stalwart lifesaving vessel, as the beloved Tyne Class lifeboat launched down the old station slipway for the last time.

As well as the last launch of the Garside it was the final time for a lifeboat to launch from the historic former lifeboat station in St Justinians, which has stood since 1912 and seen generations of crews pass down the slipway to save lives at sea.

St Davids RNLI Coxswain Dai John, who recently won a long-service award for his 30 years on the crew, paid tribute to the Garside.

"Crew members have come and gone, but Garside has been a consistent and reliable presence here for almost three decades," he said.

"Every member of the crew will have their memories of her, whether it's their first shout, the endless scrubbing to keep her pristine or a memorable rescue. Naturally we are all sad to see her go.

"But from today we will be looking forward and the new lifeboat and the new station and facilities mean we will be able to save lives at sea for many more years to come."

The new £2.7M Tamar class, the Norah Wortley, and the smaller inshore lifeboat will operate from the new £10M station at St Justinian's, which has just been declared fully operational after intensive launch testing.

Local people chipped in to support the new station project. The community arm of the fundraising appeal exceeded all expectations, raising over £214,000.

"We would like to thank the local community," added Mr John. "Both for their overwhelming support via the fundraising appeal, and their patience and understanding during the period of construction."