A fishing boat got into difficulty in The Wash as high winds swept across the region last night.

Wells lifeboat was alerted at about 9.50pm that the boat, called Lucky Luke and had three people on board, had damaged its rudder and needed assistance as it was having difficulty steering.

Lifeboats from Wells and Skegness were sent to help but were stood down just before 10.45pm when the people on the boat made contact and said she was in the channel to King's Lynn and no longer needed assistance.

No was hurt in the incident and the lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 11:30pm.

RNLI spokesman Peter Rainsford said: 'As well as the wind, it was also sleeting. Conditions out there were awful last night. It was fortunate they were able to get some steerage back and reach the relative safety of the Kings Lynn channel.'