STRANDED sailors had to be rescued by lifeboat and coastguard teams after their yacht broke down.

Crew members from the Harwich Lifeboat Station, using their all-weather lifeboat called Albert Brown, were called to the assistance of a vessel on Sunday morning at 9.45am.

The 32-foot yacht had suffered engine failure near Parkeston Quay and had to be towed by the lifeboat to the Shotley Marina.

Here lifeboat crews and members of the Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Team tied the boat up on the outer pontoon and using ropes worked with the lock keeper to bring it in to safety.

A spokesman for Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Team said: “Many thanks to the members of the public who had to wait for a while as we carried out the whole procedure safely.”