An RNLI employee has been arrested on suspicion of defrauding the charity, Dorset police force has confirmed.

The 53-year-old man, from Wareham in Dorset, was arrested after RNLI complained to Action Fraud, the police fraud reporting service. He has now been bailed.

The charity has said that, to the best of its knowledge, the allegations relate to a single incident and only one member of the organisation was involved.

A spokeswoman from RNLI said: “We can confirm that a member of staff has been arrested in connection with alleged fraud. The RNLI takes any allegations of criminal behaviour very seriously and we are working closely with the police as well as conducting our own internal investigation. As this is a criminal investigation, we are unable to provide further information.”

She said that the charity is conducting an internal investigation as well as assisting the police with its enquiries.

A spokeswoman from Dorset police said: “The RNLI made a complaint of fraud to Action Fraud which was referred to Dorset Police on 8 May 2014 to be investigated.

“As a result of the investigation a 53-year-old man from the Wareham area was arrested on suspicion of fraud and has been released on police bail until the middle of March 2015.”