A boat which formerly sailed from Kent to Essex has been impounded after two children died in a tragedy at Bournemouth Pier.

The Dorset Belle, which used to be the Spirit of Sheppey, sailed from Queenborough to Southend up until 2020.

On Wednesday (May 31), a 17-year-old boy from Southampton and a 12-year-old girl from High Wycombe were pulled from the water in Bournemouth before being rushed to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

A man in his 40s was detained after the incident on North Beach, and has since been released under investigation.

The pleasure boat was close to the area of the tragedy at the time. It has now been impounded and is under a police cordon.

The former Spirit of Sheppey was moved to Dorset due to the Covid-19 outbreak, as the boat was running at a loss.

The Spirit of Sheppey was built in 1974 and originally plied her trade as the blue-coloured Dorset Belle from Bournemouth Pier. But in 2011 she was sold off.

When retired police officer Dave Wilcock bought her in 2018 for a reported £190,000 she was red, based in Wales and called the Dame Shirley.

He renamed her the Spirit of Sheppey, but stopped the Sheerness to Southend tours in 2020.

She was returned to Poole and the vessel’s Bournemouth cruises were taken over by new management several weeks ago, according to the business’s social media pages.