Coastguard teams raced to help rescue a man taken ill on board a cruise ship off the Kent coast.

The man was airlifted to hospital after suffering a medical incident on the vessel in the early hours of this morning.

Coastguard and RNLI lifeboat crews were called at about 1.30am to an incident taking place on a liner in the English Channel off Dover harbour.

A man was said to be suffering from a medical condition and was later airlifted to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “A man with a medical condition was airlifted from the vessel and taken to hospital by Coastguard helicopter.”

Dover lifeboat was called out shortly after 2am but was not required to attend the scene to provide support.

A spokesperson for TUI Cruises confirmed the Mein Schiff 3 vessel was en route to Bremerhaven at the time of the emergency.

They added: “By the time the disembarkation was required it was not possible for a boat to come alongside due to the weather conditions. So in order to guarantee quick and safe transfer of the passenger the evacuation was thankfully performed by a coastguard-helicopter.

“The ship then continued its voyage towards the scheduled destination.”