VOLUNTEER lifeboat crews in Harwich were called to the aid of two vessels in difficulty within a matter of hours.

Harwich RNLI launched its inshore lifeboat to assist the vessels on Friday.

The charity’s volunteers first responded to their pagers shortly before 1.40pm after being requested to launch their Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat by the UK Coastguard.

It came after an 11-metre yacht became entangled with a mooring buoy on the River Stour near Wrabness.

A spokesman said: "Once on scene the volunteers attempted to free the yacht without success.

"After discussing the options with the five occupants, the occupants decided to stay on-board and wait for low tide, to hopefully free themselves.

"The lifeboat and crew returned to station, and were ready for service again by 3.30pm."

Friday’s second service came shortly before at 8.20pm when the UK Coastguard requested that Harwich RNLI’s volunteers assess reports of a broken down vessel in the River Orwell, north of Levington Marina.

The spokesman added: "After arriving on scene and assessing the situation, it was deemed the safest option was to tow the vessel and its single occupant back to The Royal Harwich Yacht Club.

"Once the casualty vessel was safely secured, the lifeboat and its crew were released to return to station."