HAMPSHIRE rescuers were called in to help a boat that had run aground.

The 27ft sailing vessel was pulled to safety by crew from the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service after it got into difficulty.

It had got stuck on the shore line of Horsea Island in Portsmouth Harbour and the skipper of the stricken yacht was on board and had attempted to re-float it himself, but the boat was stuck fast.

The yacht had slipped its swing mooring in the harbour during the night and drifted towards the shore.

The owner, from London, had been alerted in the night and had rushed down to the south coast to retrieve his yacht - but he soon realised it was going nowhere without the help of rescuers.

The Coastguard were alerted at around 6am this morning.

GAFIRS coxswain Steve Ray said: "The water was very shallow around the casualty vessel so two of my crew entered the water and swam out to the boat.

"We used a tow line to very carefully pull it free and it was soon back safely afloat with no significant damage to the vessel."

Once free, the casualty yacht was able to restart its engine and Gosport independent lifeboat escorted the vessel back to its mooring in the harbour.

The incident lasted two hours.