Stranded boat pulled to safety by RNLI crew

RNLI rescue a stranded boat from the River Ribble

RNLI rescue a stranded boat from the River Ribble

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Lifeboatmen were called to help after a yacht and its two crew were left stranded in the River Ribble.

Around 6.45pm on Sunday, members of the Lytham St Annes RNLI station were forced into action when a 31ft boat became stuck in the estuary.

The station’s all-weather lifeboat attended the incident, with the vessel attaching a tow to pull the yacht to safety from close to the Irish Sea.

The yacht, which had two people on board, was taken to a safe berth at the Douglas Boatyard at Hesketh Bank, before being assisted by the inshore lifeboat which helped the vessels negotiate the final narrow bends in the River Douglas and to help with its berthing.

Having made the yacht secure alongside a pontoon, the two lifeboats returned to the Lytham and St Annes boathouses.

The boats were refuelled and cleaned in readiness for service again by 11.20pm.

Coxswain Tom Stuart said the conditions had proved difficult for the rescue teams as the tide continued to come in.

He added: “The inshore lifeboat was launched as the tide was still flooding, which made negotiating the last few narrow bends in the River Douglas difficult without the inshore lifeboat acting as a ‘brake’ to steady the yacht in readiness for berthing just around the last one.”