Fishermen airlifted out of raft

A helicopter from RNAS Culdrose airlifted the fishermen to hospital

Two Cornish fishermen had to be rescued by a Royal Navy helicopter after they were spotted adrift in their life raft.

The aircraft crew, from RNAS Culdrose, saw the raft 20m (32.18km) off Lizard Point, after the fishermen set off a smoke flare.

The alarm was raised after the fishing boat, the Levan Mor from Looe, failed to send an hourly update.

Aircrewman Dave Rigg said: "Fortunately they were only in the water for a short period of time."

He added that the two fishermen had found something extremely heavy in their nets which they started towing ashore.

"But with the momentum from the sea, they got a bit of motion on the vessel and the next thing they knew they were in the water."

The two uninjured fishermen were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske for a check up.