Hawk-eyed members of the public raised the alarm during an attempted break-in at a charity-run lifeboat station in north Essex.

Officials from The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have expressed their disappointment about the incident at the facility in Harwich on Thursday night and have reassured the public that its lifeboats are still in operation should anyone get in trouble at sea.

The team spent Friday checking all of the lifesaving equipment to ensure nothing was damaged and at this stage it appears the offender did not manage to gain access to the station or steal anything.

A spokesman for Harwich RNLI said: “We are very disappointed by this incident but would like to reassure the public that thankfully, our lifeboats remain available for service if we are called upon to go to the assistance of somebody in difficulty at sea.

“We would like to thank the vigilant members of the local community that raised concerns when the incident was taking place.

“The lifeboats and the lifeboat station are very much a part of the community and they continue to exist thanks to the support and generosity that we receive from the local and wider community. “

Graeme Richardson, area livesaving manager for the RNLI in Suffolk and Essex, took to social media to make his thoughts on the matter heard.

He wrote on Twitter: “Very disappointing to hear that @HarwichRNLI was broken into last night. Luckily seems like no damage.

“Lifeboats and lifeboat stations are the heart of the community and there to save lives. All equipment now being checked to ensure we can carry out our work.”

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said it was contacted around 11.30pm on Thursday with concerns that two people had been seen near the lifeboat station.

She added: “We attended, and conducted a search of the area, but there was no trace of anybody on or near the site.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police 101.

Harwich Lifeboat Station is one of the busiest in Britain and is just one of the 230 RNLI hubs.

Volunteer lifeboat crews from the RNLI provide a 24-hour rescue service on the coast of the UK and Ireland.

The charity has saved more than 142,200 lives since it began in 1824.