TWO fishermen were rescued by volunteer lifeboat crews after suffering engine failure six miles off Clacton.

Clacton RNLI’s Atlantic class lifeboat was launched to the 15ft fishing vessel, following a request by Dover Coastguard, at about 1pm on Thursday.

The coastguard reported the two men were in good spirits and had deployed their anchor, but only had a mobile phone for communication.

On arrival alongside the vessel, which was located near to the North Middle Buoy, a member of the crew was placed aboard with two emergency lifejackets for the occupants and began to prepare the vessel to be towed to Brightlingsea.

After 90 minutes, the Atlantic class lifeboat arrived at Brightlingsea harbour with the casualty in tow.

They were met by members of the harbourmaster’s team, who arranged for the vessel to be recovered to its trailer.

Helmsman Eddie Vaughan- Chatfield warned all boat users to wear lifejackets.

He said: “They were in good spirits when we arrived, but I would like to stress the importance of wearing a lifejacket when going to sea.

“Things can change very quickly, as was seen on last Tuesday’s episode of Saving Lives at Sea with the story of the two fishermen off Whitstable’ Mr Vaughan-Chatfield also called on boats to be fitted with a working VHF radio .

He added: “The majority of RNLI lifeboats have equipment allowing them to track a VHF radio signal if a casualty is unsure of their position, and the mobile phone signal becomes very patchy as you go further offshore.”

Clacton’s lifeboat’s daring rescue of two yachtsmen stuck on a rock breakwater near Clacton Golf Club last year was also featured in last week’s episode of BBC documentary series Saving Lives at Sea.