Boat owners are urged to keep in contact with coastguards if their crafts are left abandoned off the coastlines in the Deal and Walmer area.

The tip follows the launch of the Walmer RNLI Atlantic lifeboat on Monday just after 9am to recover a rigid inflatable in difficulty off Kingsdown.

Andy Roberts, Walmer Lifeboat Station voluntary press officer, said: “The original request from the coastguard was to reports of a six metre RIB in trouble. Our crew quickly arrived on scene to find one person on board, the boat flooded and the engines not working.

“The rigid inflatable boat was towed to the shore and with the help of two crew members and Deal coastguards it was recovered onto its trailer by a very grateful owner.

“It transpired that the craft had got into difficulty the night before and had been anchored over night to await an attempted recovery in the morning. In situations like this we urge owners/skippers to keep the coastguard informed of their situation and intention.”

HM Coastguard has seen a 23% increase in incidents in the past month. From June 15 to July 16, HM Coastguard dealt with 2,859 incidents, an increase of 668 compared to the same period in 2012.