Hunstanton lifeboat was launched in the early hours to go to the aid of two vessels in difficulty in The Wash.

Spirit of west Norfolk launched at 3.38am and arrived on scene at 4.42a and met the Skegness lifeboat, which had taken four persons off of one of the boats and secured it ready to tow it beck into Boston.

The Hunstanton crew located the other vessel, which was a 21 ft yacht, and took that in tow.

The two persons on the yacht had run aground and had contacted a friend in Boston to see if he could come out and rescue them.

He and another person set out in an angling boat but developed engine problems on the way out to sea.

They then contacted the Humber Coastguard, which paged the RNLI lifeboat crews.

After a long tow to Boston and waiting for the tide to recover the yacht, Hunstanton's crew finally got back to their station at 10.30am.