A 40ft yacht had to be rescued after it ran aground near Poole Harbour on Saturday.

Swanage’s all-weather lifeboat was called to the yacht north of the East Looe channel after the UK Coastguard received a ‘pan pan’ message at 4.50pm on Saturday.

An RIB had arrived on the scene in response to the message and offered to transfer a crew member and tow line to the yacht.

Due to the shallow nature of the area, Poole’s inshore lifeboat was requested to assist in the rescue.

The vessel was finally towed the short distance to deep water at 5.49pm before being taken back to Poole Harbour.

Deputy Coxswain Gavin Steeden said: “The yacht did the right thing, they had lifejackets on and had the means to make the call for help early. It’s always good to work with the flanking station to assist with a rescue. It shows all the training we undertake together really pays off.”

Swanage’s all-weather lifeboat returned to the station shortly after 6.40pm where it was washed down, re-fuelled and made ready for service.