Three explorers had to be rescued by Sheerness lifeboat after getting trapped by the tide.

The trio was trying to walk from Minster to Leysdown along the beach but became marooned at Eastchurch Gap as the tide came in.

RNLI spokesman Vic Booth said: "All three were extremely hot and suffering the effects of the sun so were taken to Minster Leas where they were handed into the care of the Sheppey Coastguard Rescue Team."

The rescue happened on Wednesday. The alarm was raised at 2.37pm just as the inshore lifeboat Buster was returning to its boathouse after retrieving two inflatables drifting off the seafront at Sheerness.

Mr Booth said: "Initial reports said that two people were cut off by the tide while attempting to walk from Minster to Leysdown along the shoreline. Making best speed, the lifeboat crew located the casualties, now three in number, at 2.55pm and swiftly put them all into the lifeboat."

On Saturday the all-weather lifeboat Judith Copping Joyce was launched at 6.46am to rescue a 72-year-old man whose 38-feet yacht had broken down and run aground near the Red Sands Towers.

The sailor, who was en route from Plymouth, had put out a Mayday call.

The lifeboat crew found him at 7.30am and two boarded his vessel, managed to get the engine restarted and then sailed it to the Queenborough harbour where it was secured.