Lerwick lifeboatmen lead Viking fire festival Longships are so old fashioned. The 21 st century Viking's transport-of-choice is a Severn class lifeboat.

Or so Lerwick crew members Bruce Leask (left) and John Sinclair would have you believe.

Each year the people of Lerwick hold the Up Heliy Ya Viking fire festival to mark the end of winter. The climax of celebrations is a torch-lit procession of over 900 men dressed as Vikings, known as guizers. They parade through the streets and finish by burning a replica Viking longship. Dancing and revelling then carries on throughout the night.

This year Bruce was the chief viking, Guizer Jarl, and John was one of his main group. 'You serve a 15-year apprenticeship on the organising committee to become Jarl,' says Bruce. 'It was a great honour and t had an absolutely brilliant time. It's like being king fora day.'Disaster at sea, many injured - but it's only a practice run Lifeboat crews from Dunbar and Anstruther, on the southeast coast of Scotland, joined a Scottish Fisheries protection vessel and an RAF helicopter rescue team from RAF Bulmer for a major exercise in the Firth of Forth. Boat traffic is on the increase in the Firth and, with a new passenger ferry to the continent planned, the two stations were keen to be ready for a potential disaster.

Eight 'casualties' went on board the Scottish Fisheries ship. They all had faked injuries which, if real, would have needed hospital treatment. The call then went out for the exercise to start.

The two lifeboats hurried to the scene and trained first aiders in the crew climbed aboard the ship. They treated the casualties until the RAF helicopter arrived. The RAF winchman was lowered to the deck of the ship and he supervised the transfer of the injured men to the lifeboats.

Everything went very well and the opportunity to work with such a large ship was very useful. The crews are now planning more exercises..