THE captain of a tug boat pulling a large container ship in the Thames Estuary got a surprise when a crew from the RNLI pulled up alongside after his personal locator beacon (GPS) was accidentally set off.

A rescue crew from Gravesend was launched after they picked up the signal just off Canvey Island at about 12.15pm on Saturday.

A spokesman for the RNLI said: “He was a bit surprised to see us and didn’t understand why we were there.

“We explained the beacon had been set of and we had reacted to that.

“He was a little embarrassed as he’d accidentally set it of while it was in his pocket and was unaware it had been activated.”