THE skipper of the Richard Hart tug had to be rescued by a Gravesend RNLI crew on Friday morning after he was hit in the face by a piece of equipment on board.

The incident happened in Erith and the lifeboat crew were called to assist after another man aboard the tug called the London coastguard.

Jason Carroll, helmsman for the Gravesend RNLI said: “The skipper had suffered facial injuries. He was struck by something onboard and knocked unconscious and was in and out of consciousness.

“We went onboard and gave medical assistance before taking him to shore and handing him over to the London Ambulance service.”