TELEVISION star Griff Rhys Jones will launch the world’s oldest motorised lifeboat in Walton this weekend.

The ceremony will mark the conclusion of ten years of painstaking work and fundraising to restore James Stevens No.14.

Mr Rhys Jones will be at Titchmarsh Marina for the launch on Saturday, at 1pm.

The Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust rescued the vessel, the town’s lifeboat from 1900 to 1928, from a Maldon creek in 1998 where it was being used as a houseboat.

With the help of a £75,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, grants and sponsorships, volunteers and experts have restored the vessel to its original RNLI splendour. Mr Rhys Jones, who has recently been presenting the documentary Rivers on BBC1, will be joined by hundreds of descendants of the James Stevens No.14 crew, including two grandsons of Henry Britton, the original coxswain. Hundreds of spectators are expected at the launch site, off Kirby Road, Walton, which will be open from 9am with displays, vintage cars, and a farmers’ market.

Out on the water, there will be a number of other lifeboats and vintage sailing craft.

The old lifeboat, which will be open for viewing at the marina from 9am to 11.30am, is in the designated list of the National Register of Historic Vessels and is the only Norfolk and Suffolk class lifeboat afloat.

While stationed at Walton, she launched 129 times and saved 227 lives. Her most notable service was on December 29, 1917, when she rescued 92 passengers and crew from the SS Peregrine which had run aground on Long Sand Head in a force nine gale.

Now the heritage trust will maintain the boat as a floating exhibit of early 20th century lifeboat design.

She will also be available for trips next year, taking up to 12 passengers out in good weather. Bookings can be made by e-mailing the trust chairman at brian.jennings50@btinternet.com