A fishing boat was towed to safety after drifting towards the main shipping channel in Hampshire waters.

Three men had to be rescued when the 17ft vessel lost engine power and was unable to deploy its anchor near Portsmouth Harbour.

Gosport’s lifeboat crew (GAFIRS) towed the boat back to shore after finding it just south of Spitbank Fort.

GAFIRS coxswain Brian Pack said: “We soon found the small fishing vessel thanks to VHF radio communications and my crew quickly managed to place a tow line on the vessel so we could pull it out of potential harm’s way.

“The three men on board were warm and wearing lifejackets, so we decided to tow them back to Stokes Bay, where their car and trailer were waiting.”

The call out was GAFIRS’ eighth of the year. Last year crews attended 112 incidents from their base at Stokes Bay, Gosport.