Two men and a dog were at the centre of a dramatic incident when their boat capsized on the water in a Norfolk village.

A horrified pub landlord watched on as fire and coastguard crews rushed to helped the men and the golden Labrador at New Inn Hill, in Rockland St Mary.

Terry Webb, who has been landlord of the New Inn for six years, said he and his wife were inside the pub when he saw the coastguard arrive at the staithe.

He said: “The boat capsized, they had a dog on the boat and they got soaking wet.

“My wife was cleaning the floors and I was busy doing stuff inside when everybody turned up and I went out to see what was going on. It’s not the first time this has happened.”

He added: “For some reason the boat capsized and they managed to bail out some of the water and get the boat afloat and the rescue service towed them back.

“What is important is they are safe and sound.”

The landlord offered hot drinks to the 14 members of emergency services on the scene as well as the men from the boat.

Mr Webb said: “It’s part of the community service. We look after anybody that is on that river and we hate to see anybody getting hurt.” He added: “These waters are treacherous if they do not what they are doing. These men did know what they were doing but something went wrong.

“There was a lot of shock. They have been doing it for some years and it has probably never happened to them before. It was overwhelming.

“It’s not the first time we have had the emergency services down here. In the six years it’s the third or fourth time we have had a boat sink there.”

Mr Webb said the men, who he believed were in their 70s, had been out shooting with a golden Labrador retriever.

Gorleston and Lowestoft Coastguard were called to the scene at 6.45am.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service received a call shortly before 8am to assist the crews and sent two fire engines from Loddon and the Carrow rescue boat to bring the men and the dog back to dry land.

A Maritime and Coastguard spokesman said: “The fire service rescue boat was used to bring the people and dog to shore and the people were passed into the care of the ambulance service.”