The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), the voluntary organisation launched in 1994 to restore a visual watch along the UK coast, has appointed a new chairman.

Founding member Alan Richards has taken the role with immediate effect, but has stood down from chairing the NCI Advisory Board and managing the NCI’s Worms Head lookout station in South Wales to focus on his new position.

Mr Richards said: ‘As a comparatively young organization run on an entirely voluntary basis, NCI has already come a long way since it was first established in 1994.

‘We now operate 44 lookout stations in England and Wales with more in the pipeline and I am excited to be taking up the challenge of steering the charity forward at such an important stage of its development.’

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