Lifeboat crews rescued three people and towed a cabin cruiser to safety after it was stricken in the sea.

The 30ft cabin cruiser was en route from Dover to Lymington at around 10.15am today when it suffered steerage failure, around half a mile from Dungeness lifeboat station.

Coxswain Stuart Adams, in charge of the RNLI lifeboat The Morrell, and her volunteer crew put two crew members on board to assess the situation.

The boat was towed to Dover harbour and the lifeboat returned to Dungeness.

Coxswain Adams said “Thank you to the range safety boat ‘Smit Cerne’ for their

assistance with this casualty”.