A LIFEBOAT crew dashed to their hovercraft and sped across Southend seafront... to attend the wedding reception of one of their colleagues.

Lifeboat volunteer Greg Sears and his bride Natasha got a surprise on their big day after fellow crew members turned up to their reception in the RNLI hovercraft.

The Westcliff couple were enjoying a seaside-themed party and got the perfect centrepiece as they posed for pictures on the lifesaving vessel with their bridesmaids.

Natasha, 24, an insurance loss assessor with her dad’s firm Property Claims Assessors, in Prittlewell, said: “We were really pleased.

“It was nice they think so much of Greg they would come and do that for him.”

Greg, 25, a lorry mechanic in Purfleet, said: “I’m always talking about the lifeboat to friends, so for them to see it was really exciting.”

The couple, from Cocket Hurst Close, chose Sands restaurant, at Three Shells Beach, for the reception on Saturday evening as guests were lifeboat crew on call – so they needed to be near Southend Pier.

Sure enough, their pagers began beeping at 8.40pm and two members dashed off to rescue three people stranded off Shoebury Common after their jetski broke down.

As they returned to the celebrations, the crew hatched a plot to surprise their friends.

Natasha said: “I was sitting down and one of the crew members came over and told me to be ready to leave in ten minutes.

“I was a bit annoyed at first because I didn’t know what he was talking about and I didn’t want to leave.

“I had to take my wedding shoes off because the sand was wet from torrential rain earlier that day and my bridesmaids had to carry my dress.

“We are really grateful to them for coming down and doing it.”

It wasn’t the only surprise of the wedding, however, as Natasha’s older brother Jamie also came over from his home in New Zealand.

The reception, which followed a traditional white wedding at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Eastwood, already featured deckchairs and a Rossi Ice Cream van.

Greg has volunteered with Southend RNLI for six years. He is station mechanic and fundraiser for the life-saving charity, as well as being a lifeboat crewmember.