Lifeboats in dramatic rescue in stormy conditions off Sidmouth

No-one was hurt in the incident

The weather conditions at sea were so bad during a daring rescue that RNLI volunteers had to tow a boat 30 miles away to another port. Crews from Exmouth RNLI lifeboat station were called out to a motorboat in distress off Bridport in Dorset.

The crew launched the all-weather lifeboat R & J Welburn to assist their colleagues at Weymouth RNLI following a call from HM Coastguard. A spokesperson for Weymouth RNLI said their all-weather lifeboat Ernest & Mabel , were first on scene at 2.34pm on Saturday October 5.

At first they decided that to ensure the safety of the 50ft boat's occupants the best course of action would be take it under tow and return it to its home port of Exmouth. However after the Weymouth crew had towed the vessel for a number of hours, the volunteers at Exmouth RNLI were paged at 5.28pm to launch their all-weather lifeboat, R&J Welburn , and assist them.

Liam Pessel, Exmouth RNLI deputy launch authority said both lifeboats met up eight miles south of Sidmouth, where the Exmouth RNLI volunteers took over the tow.

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He added: "Unfortunately, at this stage the conditions approaching Exmouth were so challenging that it would not have been possible to safely enter the River Exe channel, so the decision was made to proceed to the next safest port of Brixham.

The lifeboat made the slow crossing to Brixham where the casualty vessel was safely moored up. Mr Pessell added: "Our crews then returned to Exmouth, finally arriving home and heading to their beds at 1am this morning (Sunday October 6). It was great teamwork from all the crew, including our shore crew, and a positive result in challenging conditions."

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