Sea rescue crew called out again

The yacht was yards from the site of the previous day's rescue operation

A rescue hovercraft was called out to a yachtsman who was stranded off the Somerset coast just yards from where a speedboat ran aground the day before.

Coastguards were called to Stert Island on Saturday morning, where the sailor's 20ft vessel was stuck on a mud bank.

But the 76-year-old told them he had enough food and water to stay on board till the incoming tide.

Just 24 hours earlier, three men had to be carried over the mud in basket stretchers to the hovercraft.

Alan Miller, chairman of the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (BARB), said: "For the second time in two days, the hovercraft was again the only means of reaching the yacht, given that the tide was out and deep mud was surrounding it."

Burnham Coastguard officer, Steve Bird, added: "To have a second call-out here in two days was an unfortunate coincidence.

"Sand and mud do shift in Bridgwater Bay on a weekly, and even daily, basis and this makes the channel here difficult for even experienced sailors."