A yacht ran aground after the crew was apparently ignorant of the dangers of a sandbank off the Kent coast.

The vessel got into difficulty on the Goodwin Sands off Deal on Saturday, and the Belgians on board were forced to wait until a change in the tide before the 35ft long Ninix was eventually towed to safety.

Divers on board another boat raised the alarm just before 2pm after realising the yacht was wedged in the Kellett Gut.

John Turgoose, from the RNLI at Walmer, said: "The weather was calm, but the tide was falling fast.

"The Belgian yacht was well equipped and had an experienced crew, but had run aground while navigating on auto-pilot. They did not appear to be aware of the reputation of the Goodwin Sands."

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Walmer Lifeboat Station’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat was launched and the crew found the Ninix and four people on board about six miles from Deal Pier.

An attempt to tow the yacht off the Sands was not successful as the keel was stuck firmly in the sand, and the lifeboat decided to wait until it could be floated by the next tide.

There was no significant damage to the hull, and the yacht continued her voyage to Belgium at 9.15pm.

Denis Brophy, lifeboat operations manager at Walmer Lifeboat Station, said: "This was an excellent rescue. Although it turned out that no lives were endangered, the prospect of breaking seas on the Goodwin Sands as the tide rises is best not experienced."