Lifeboat crews mounted a rescue off the east Norfolk coast after a 40ft sailing boat hit sandbanks and overturned.

The yacht ran aground off Winterton Ness, north of Great Yarmouth, this afternoon.

Last night Daniel Hurd, coxswain of Hemsby Inshore Rescue Service, said team s from Hemsby and Caister were paged following reports that a boat had hit the sandbanks.

'They were about a quarter of a mile off Winterton,' said Mr Hurd.

'We went out and got the two crew and brought them back to land where they were met by the Winterton coastguard.'

They were taken back to Hemsby station where they waited until the overturned yacht was towed by Caister's Bernard Matthews 2 lifeboat.

The crewmen had set off from Lowestoft earlier in the day and were on a sailing trip from Germany to Scotland.

They thanked the lifeboat crews for coming to their aid, adding that if it had been a more serious incident the teams would have gone above and beyond to help.

The lifeboats headed back out to Winterton after 8pm when high tide helped refloat the yacht.

The crew of the sailing vessel, called Funtime, said they planned to get back on board and continue their journey.